Aro's Cold Heart
by Corinne Tate
Summary: On Hiatus  never thought I'd type those words.   Unless my wayward muse comes back, this one's just going to have to sit on the back burner indefinitely.  An outtake from Cold Fragile Hearts.  This is Aro's beginning, and what happened when Joham came to Volterra.
1. Part I

**A/N: This is an outtake from my story Cold Fragile Hearts. If you're not reading that one, then this will be confusing to you - though part one is understandable. I'm working on at least two more parts to this, and I'll post them as soon as I can. **

Aro's Cold Heart

Part I

Women! If I could boil down all the problems I've had over the last eighteen hundred years, I could place ninety-five percent of them all under that one heading – women! No mean feat for a man who's been married for seventeen hundred years!

Though I'd been nobly born, I was destined for obscurity from the beginning. My father was a casualty of the cursed hold women have had on our line since long before I breathed my first. My father was married, and a Roman Senator; which should have given me a clear shot at being a stone's throw away from the seat of power. However my father dallied with many women. His wife was not my mother, though I was her widowed sister's child when my father took her as his concubine. Still there were no less than fifteen sons born to several different women; all with my father's particular nose and chin.

Just as many daughters were born to him as well, and I cannot begin to tell you the amount of trouble those daughters brought to our family and me personally. For all of the treachery and in-fighting the sons represented, the daughters brought unequal measures of woe and strife to our existence.

Not the least of our worries were for those young swains who felt they could somehow attach themselves to the Senate seat by courting one of my father's misbegotten female whelps. There was maneuvering aplenty to arrange respectable marriages for them, and even more maneuvering to see to it that they remained respectable up until they were properly wed.

My father was hopeless at these arrangements, so it fell to me, as his fourth oldest son. When I should have been learning the law and the nuances of politics, I was instead trying to discern how much a potential husband was worth.

Of course my half sisters all wanted good husbands; and good meant young, attractive and wealthy. As if marriage had a thing to do with any of that – well maybe the wealth. I'd seen five of the troublesome little things into sound matches, and I was working on the sixth when Papa fell ill.

For all the chaos he brought to my life, I loved him dearly. He was the kind of man who was easy to love. He was passionate, and exuberant in his mannerisms. He embraced life in a wide hug, and brought joy to everyone he knew. It was the very reason women fell so easily into his arms and his bed. Papa had a zest for life that called people to him. No matter the mistakes he made, I loved him.

His illness laid him low, and he went from being a strong, vibrant, man, to one who could barely sit up in his bed. I hated seeing him like that. But more than that, I hated seeing all my brothers and sisters gathered around him, as it brought home the fact that I was nothing special. I saw how he deferred to my older brothers, and I realized once and for all I wouldn't be inheriting his Senate seat. When he spoke to me, he praised me for the work I'd done in finding his daughter's good husbands. He charged me with continuing in that role, even after his death.

I'd like to say I talked him out of this onerous task, but my father didn't last long, as his illness claimed him just days later. My oldest brother took his Senate seat, and the one after him took over his estate and finances.

I continued as match maker, and managed to marry off four more of my father's daughters. It was then it became evident that my brothers were mismanaging his estate. I still had six more to go, and there was no money to offer potential husbands. It was always better when the match was between those with equal fortunes. The woman got a husband who could provide for her, and the man got a wife who knew how to deal with his household. It also meant the wealthier side didn't have to worry about the family of the other coming to beg, borrow, or steal from them. With no dowry to send into a marriage, there was little chance of finding respectable mates for them.

My six youngest sisters were facing uncertain futures once the money ran out. I managed to get one more married, as she was the full sister of my oldest brother, and obviously noble by association.

Still I had five single women looking to me to keep them from being given as young brides to old men, or worse. There was the possibility of them being taken into slavery or prostitution as payment for my brothers' foolish spending. My own fortune was used up in caring for them, and I was having to make some tough choices on their behalf.

It became known that there was a wealthy land owner to the north who was looking for a bride. As strange as it sounded, he was offering marriage and a life of ease to the young woman who caught his fancy. He was entertaining petitioners in his home, which was rumored to be quite large and opulent. I thought it was the answer to at least one of my five problems. I packed up a mule with provisions and the six of us set off to find this wealthy benefactor.

My own full sister was with us. Didyme was the prettiest of the five, and the other four tried to sabotage her chances. No one would be openly hostile to her, for she was the sweetest woman I'd ever met – if such a thing could be said of a woman. She had so much of Papa's loving nature she was a joy to be near. I thought for sure after this trip I'd be saying goodbye to her, as I didn't see how any man could refuse her.

The others made her carry their packs, and one of them stole her sandals. She didn't complain, but when she fell behind I realized her feet were horribly cut and blistered. I made the others carry their own packs, plus hers, and I set her up on the mule to ride. That night the blisters burst, and oozed, and I wrapped her feet, hoping they would heal.

Three days later we were in the fabled land of the wealthy landowner. We asked those we passed, and were given directions. We paraded through a village, and the people seemed reluctant to point us in the right direction. Some even told us to go home. I couldn't help but think they wanted to marry their own daughters to his fortunes.

We passed through many groves of olives, grapes, and figs. They were well maintained and productive. When we saw the main house, we were all amazed at the splendor. It was a large two story structure, with white columns supporting the roof. It looked like it belonged to a king. We stopped near a well, and my sisters cleaned themselves up and changed into their best clothes. I had to help Didyme because she could barely stand.

Even after cleaning up, we must have seemed a sorry lot as we approached the magnificent home. Two servants rushed out, and one took the mule and the other lead us into the audience chamber. Even though we were strangers who arrived unannounced, we were treated like honored guests. We were given food and wine, and the servants offered us anything we might need.

As I watched them, my suspicion grew. They seemed almost fearful in their frenzied activities. They didn't answer many of my questions, though we clearly spoke the same language. They promised the master of the house would be back at dusk, and they told us we'd have to stay for the evening meal they were preparing. I began to wonder what manner of man would be so desperate as to seek a bride in such a way. I worried that he was some sort of brute who terrorized all who knew him. I wondered if he had a reputation for violence or cruelty toward women.

When one of the servants noticed Didyme's feet, he ran for water. He carefully removed the bloody strips of cloth with shaking hands. He washed her feet, then slathered them in medicinal salve before wrapping them again. He took the strips of cloth with him when he left.

I was on edge the hours we waited. My sisters verbally rearranged his household as they marveled over the statures, rugs, and mosaics. As the sun set, the candles in the sconces were all lit. We were left alone, as all but one of the servants left us 'to finish with the meal preparation,' they said. I knew they were lying.

I was trying to get my sisters gathered up. I wanted desperately to leave and be gone from the place before our host arrived. They resisted me, as they had worn themselves out on the trip, and the wine seemed to be affecting them strongly. I knew there was something wrong, especially when the one servant implored us to relax and enjoy our stay.

I had just managed to get them moving, and we were headed for the door, when the candles flickered. They came into the room so silently I thought they were ghosts. I had Didyme held tight against my side to help her, and we both gasped when we turned to look.

"Please don't leave." I didn't expect to see a woman, but my eyes were drawn to her in an instant, and she was the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen. Her dark blond tresses fanned across her shoulders in thick waves, and her eyes met mine directly. I knew in an instant she was more than trouble – she was dangerous.

The man was older, and I somehow knew the way they moved together that they were not a couple, nor were they related. Just watching the way he left her side and flanked us put me instantly in mind of hunters. He sized up the girls in a way that made me wish he were merely looking for a toy to abuse. I looked for the servant, and he'd disappeared.

I didn't know which way to turn, for I felt the threat on either side of me, but Didyme decided for me. She pivoted to face him, and her eyes lit up as if she were in the presence of the divine. I heard her sigh of wonder, as she let go of me and limped forward to reach him. My other sisters were frozen in place, obviously feeling like rabbits would in the presence of snakes. But Didyme was enchanted with the dark haired stranger.

She stopped herself, a polite distance from him,and humbly bowed as decorum required. The smile she bestowed on him was brighter than the missing sun, and I heard the laughter in her words.

"You could not possibly find me as delightful as I find you. For if you did, I have no doubt we would be married, and I would make it my life's purpose, to make you as happy as you have made me in this moment. However, if I do not find favor with you; know that I will love you and long for you, as long as I draw breath."

I had never heard such words of love and devotion from anyone before, whether man or woman. I never would have guessed she'd only just set eyes upon him. I was afraid our host would affect all of my charges the same way, but the others were clustered together, clearly frightened and confused.

He stepped toward Didyme with a grace that I'd never imagined a man could possess. I hurried to her side as he reached for her hand. I tried to stop her, but she reached for him as if under a spell. When they touched, they both quivered and their eyes locked onto one another. I still couldn't shake the feeling that we were all in grave danger.

I felt her behind me and turned as the woman moved with sinuous grace to join her partner. As she passed me, she trailed her cold fingers along the back of my neck, and I almost shrieked at the touch. Together they looked like royalty. They were both wearing intricately woven garments, dyed in the richest reds and purples. There was gold filament woven into the edges of her sleeves, and his hem was sewn with sparkling gemstones. They were more beautiful than any emperor I'd ever seen. I could easily imagine them being worshiped.

But at that moment, the only one who seemed to want to worship them, was Didyme. She hadn't let go of his hand, and he was still gazing into her eyes even as the lovely woman took his side.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Marcus, and this is Heidi..." No titles were given, which was unconventional at best, and at worst bordered on rudeness.. "...we're so pleased you could join us. Please, you must tell me your names, so I can know what to call this vision of beauty." He tore his eyes from my sister and looked at me with a knowing smile. His teeth were perfectly straight and white. I looked at him, and knew nothing was as it seemed. It was all so normal looking and I knew I was supposed to be disarmed by their charm and beauty. But I was on a knifes edge of wariness. Even the way he smiled at me was a lie.

I wanted to take my sisters and run. But the choice was quickly taken out of my hands. "My name is Didyme." Her voice sounded so soft and breathless to my ears. "This is my brother Armando, and these are my half-sisters." I was surprised to hear her speak my given name. She always called me Aro, as it was the way she learned to say my name when she was a child. She went on to introduce us all, and I realized he was still holding her hand.

"Please come and join us, we've had a dinner prepared in your honor." Without a word from me, he lead my little sister away, and deeper into the house. I hurried to catch up, and Heidi wrapped her arm around mine. She felt cold and hard, and at my startled gasp, she smiled in a way that I could only describe as wicked.

She leaned in to purr into my ear. "Come Armando, we're going to have a wonderful time tonight. Maybe I'll even let you bed me." The creature was beautiful, without a doubt, but there was no softness to her, neither physically, nor emotionally. My other sisters followed after us as if they were being pulled on a string. I looked directly at them and gave a shake of my head, and hoped they would take the signal to leave. But like sheep, they were totally dependent on me.

We found ourselves in a great banquet room, and we were each seated at a long table, worthy of Christ's last supper. Marcus at the head of the table seated Didyme on his right, and Heidi on his left. She seated me next to her, and two of my sisters sat beside me and two were beside Didyme.

Servants brought out platters of food, and began placing it on our plates. Goblets were generously filled with wine. Heidi's hand crept under my robes, and slid up my bare thigh. Marcus seemed enchanted with Didyme, and I heard her laughter again and again as they seemed absorbed in one another.

The woman beside me seemed intent on keeping me distracted, and I was shocked to feel her cool fingers wrap around me most intimately. I thought for sure someone would have to notice, but my sisters were eating and drinking as if there wasn't a thing wrong with the whole situation.

I was further stunned, when Marcus leaned over and kissed my sister, boldly on the lips, and her hand went round his neck invitingly. I stood up abruptly, dislodging the cold hand from my person.

"Enough! We are leaving immediately – I insist!" No one moved for long moments, but I looked around the table and realized all was lost. My sisters were clearly drunk or drugged, as they leaned heavily in their seats. Marcus casually wrapped his arms around Didyme, and looked me in the eyes before he kissed her possessively. All I could do was stare when he picked her up bodily, and carried her out of the room.

"Come Armando, take me to bed." I was mesmerized by her, as if I too were drugged. As she lead me from the room, I saw the servants gathering to move my sleeping charges from the table. I obediently followed Heidi to a room where the floor was spread with furs, and a fire was roaring in the hearth.

Every time my eyes met hers, I felt my will slipping away. Her eyes were the color of aged wine, and her lips tasted far sweeter. I had bedded women before – courtesans who recognized my father's title. But Heidi was nothing like any woman I'd ever seen. Her skin was hard and smooth, and her flesh was cold. I felt partially repulsed by her, but the way she smelled, and the way she looked at me, made me ache for her. I greedily kissed her honeyed lips and tasted of her cold mouth. We tore at one another, and her gold trimmed garment fell to my frenzied fingers.

I heard fabric tear as she shredded my robes, and I beheld her perfect naked body in the firelight. I knew it was wrong, but when we fell onto the furs together, I eagerly took her. It was as if she controlled me, and I couldn't stop myself, even though I tried. I was young and strong, and once was not enough for the beautiful creature.

I was in the midst of our third or fourth act, when I heard screaming. I recognized the voice of my sister, and I tried to get up and go to her. Heidi wrapped arms and legs around me, and wouldn't let me go. I struggled and she laughed.

"Armando, you beautiful man, you're not finished satisfying me yet." She held my head, and licked my neck. I felt her mouth on me... lips and teeth. Then the voice of Marcus stopped her.

"Hold right there, Heidi. I've not fed yet, and I want this one." She growled, but released me. She was unconcerned about our nakedness, and I scrambled away from them. There were metal tools for the fireplace, and I grabbed one to hopefully defend against whatever was coming next.

He laughed. "What have you done to the man, that he would want to attack you for bedding him?"

"Where is my sister, and what have you done to her?" I could still hear her screams echoing from someplace distant.

"Why so mistrustful? I've done nothing but show you my hospitality. You've been fed, given wine, had your every need taken care of, and still you look as if you would kill me. I have never seen such a response. Do you not feel safe and comfortable?"

"You're a fraud! I can see through your charms, and you're not what you say you are. We should have left sooner. You've both been lying to us... I was a fool to come here!"

"That's the smartest thing you've said all night." He came for me, and I swung the pitiful tool at him. He evaded me with ease. "Relax, you and your sister will be joining us. You're lucky she loves you so much, or I would have allowed Heidi to finish you."

"What have you done to her?" I shouted, and her screams punctuated my question.

"I've made her my bride. Isn't that what you wanted?" His calm demeanor and smile mocked me. I swung at him again, knowing it was futile. He plucked the tool from my hands, and wrapped his arms around me from behind. He held me in such a way that it was impossible to move. I could feel my ribs crack he held me so tight. When he bit me, I felt the burn immediately, and I screamed.

He drank deeply from me. As my life ebbed away, I felt suddenly as if I could feel his hunger as well as his satisfaction. I read him in that moment. I heard how much he loved my blood. I heard how he'd fed from Didyme, and how he fell in love with her the moment he first saw her. I knew he bedded Heidi regularly, but there was no love between them. I knew they lured strangers here to feed from them, and the servants and villagers knew and either helped them or kept quiet to save themselves. And I knew my other sisters were either dead or would be soon.

I read his whole life story just before he snapped my neck. He dropped me onto the furs by the fire, and I stared up at him, completely unable to move. He knelt beside me and pushed the hair from my face.

"There, there brother, I've done you a favor. I broke your neck to keep you from feeling some of the pain. Your body has to die now, so you can become like us. I did the same to your sister, though her spine has already healed. This is really going to hurt." I saw the shadow of memory cross his face. "I'm going to leave you now, so I can go and try to comfort my new bride. Thank you for bringing her to me." He left me then, and I felt the bones of my spine mend. Then I felt the agony of the burning.

Heidi came back to me, and curled against my side as I writhed and fought not to scream.  
>"Relax my dear Armando, it will be over soon. If you please me as much when you're dead as you did when you were alive, I might just have to keep you." I was being tortured, and still her hands played over my body with bold familiarity. Her touch nauseated me, though it wasn't because it caused me pain. It was because I could read her thoughts! She had already fed on my youngest sister, just minutes before coming to lie beside me. From her mind I learned of her voracious hunger, and a comparable sexual appetite.<p>

Heidi may have looked like an angel, but she was more a demon in her behavior. The parade of her conquests and victims was more than I could stand, and I began to scream. It felt good to let it out, and I screamed for the pain, and for the four young women who would never rest in the arms of a good husband. My screams made her leave me – which was the only blessing I was to have.

Days later the pain peaked when my heart stopped, and I let go of being human with a last gasping breath. I woke to three sets of blood red eyes peering at me. Immediately I reached for the familiar hands of my sister Didyme, noting that she was more beautiful than I remembered.

She threw herself into my arms, wretched in her grief, and I was forced to console her. "I killed her! My god Aro, how can I ever be forgiven? She stole my sandals, and I stole her life!" She pulled back to gaze into my eyes. "We are fiends dear Aro... blood drinking fiends!"

There are many things I've done in my existence which shame me. But what I did to Luisa must surely top the list. I was lead to the room where my one remaining charge lay resting. Even before the door was opened, I could hear her – _smell _her.. My senses were narrowed to the sound of her breath and the beating of her heart. I could hear her lifeblood flowing through her, and she smelled of all manner of temptations. It was an overpowering combination I was helpless to resist.

I am blessed that she never woke. However I felt her every thought as I attacked her. I knew of her love and trust of me, and I violated that bond as I drank her in. Her blood was bliss! In that moment I would have given anything to satisfy my appetite in such a way. Trusting, young, Luisa became nothing more than a vessel to carry the ambrosia to my lips.

When I was sated, I found myself smeared in her blood, and I realized a monster had savaged her quite viciously. Didyme was right; we'd become fiends.

Didyme lamented her lost humanity, while I did not. She mourned over her lost tears, and her lost softness, and her conscience – which seemed to dessert her in times of hunger – only to return with recriminations after she'd fed. She longed for the sleep and dreams which were unnecessary, and she mourned deeply that she would never bear even one child.

Still, Marcus loved her as much as one of our kind is capable. He quickly arranged for a marriage, and we were witnesses as she became his wife. Her demeanor changed as soon as she became a wife. She fell into the role with a passion that defied reason. Merely a week later, she confessed to me that she was joyfully and wonderfully in love with her husband.

Of course he could no longer be the sexual partner to Heidi, and she turned to me to satisfy her lusts. She didn't care that I had a low regard for her, and that I considered her little more than a whore. She actually enjoyed that I could read her mind, and she demanded I satisfy her wanton fantasies.

We lived in this way for several years; changing the lure to a wealthy man looking for someone to help guard his treasury. It brought thieves and swindlers to our doorstep – which eased Didyme's mind a bit. When the villagers decided they had suffered our presence enough, they simply set fire to the home. Three of us wanted to go into the village and drink our fill before we left, but Didyme begged us not to.

We wandered for a while. We would often invade a household and feed on the occupants, then live there as long as it was convenient. It was in one of these raids that we met Caius. He was a visiting tax collector, who had made himself at home with the wealthy family we attacked. He argued quite furiously that he should not suffer their fate, as he was merely a guest. I wasn't impressed with the young opportunist, but Marcus enjoyed a witty repartee with him.

I knew with the brush of her hand, that Heidi wished to bed the virile young albino. We allowed her to have her entertainment, and afterward we moved in to kill and feed as was our way. I was almost distracted by the taste of his blood, but his thoughts were so much richer. It was what I saw in his mind that made me beg them to spare him. He was barely clinging to life when they pulled away.

His change gave him an edge and hardness he'd lacked in life. We weren't prepared for him to escape us. His newborn strength took him out of our reach faster than we could follow. He was gone for weeks, but he returned with a bride of his own. Athenodora was of mythical beauty, and I knew from his mind that he'd loved and courted her for years. She was snatched away by a man who simply beat him physically. His rival had taken the woman of his dreams, and made her his concubine.

Caius stole her back, and ended the existence of his rival and all who were associated with him.

We had a coven, but no home. It was the whole reason I'd wanted Caius to join us. He knew of a town where he was part of a scam to part people from their money, by posing as anointed clergy. His pale hair and face set him apart and people paid just to have him touch them, or for the opportunity to kiss his hand.

Before we went to Volterra, we learned our parts. We looked as if we were anointed by the saints themselves. Caius drew up official papers, and as we processed into the town, people bowed to us. We took up residence in the temple, and we began performing miracles. We drove out demons, we spoke with the dead, we read the very thoughts from their heads.

Weeks later, we were visited by those who owned the town, and all the surrounding lands. The man was unremarkable, but his daughter Sulpicia was a beauty who was spoiled, and used to getting what she wanted. They threatened our comfortable set-up, and even if we killed them, the land would never be ours. She wanted Caius; but he was already married. I was her consolation prize. It would get me out of Heidi's clutches, I reasoned, so I proposed marriage. The town and it's land was her dowry, and we held the ceremony in the temple.

I wasn't planning to change her. I felt that once her family withdrew, she would succumb to a terrible illness or accident. But when I failed to claim her on our wedding night, she accused me of being a lover of men, she accused me of being too weak to perform, and she said she would make it known that I was little more than a eunuch in Godly attire.

I did as she wanted, and claimed my rights as her husband. Our coupling was more than painful for her. I didn't want to hurt her, but she was fragile as a butterfly, and the very act tore and broke her in ways that made her scream. I had no restraint, as lovemaking by it's very nature, requires a loss of control. Flesh tore, and bones broke. I bit her during the act to quiet her screams.

I was going to be finished with her then and there, when I learned of her devious secret. There was a stipulation in the property transfer, that she must be wed a full year before the property became hers – and mine. Her death would mean we would have to give up the town and the land. I stopped myself from ending her, though for several hundred years I would regret the decision.

My new wife adored what she had become – almost as much as she despised me. She took great delight in following in Heidi's footsteps, and her conquests and victims were threatening to empty the small town.

It was Caius who saved them, and us. He made his first law, declaring that Volterra and any area within twenty miles of us, would be off limits for hunting. It didn't stop Sulpicia from bedding every man in the area, though. She just had to be more careful with them – oh she hated me for our wedding night.

Eventually our reputation for miracles and wonders spread. We couldn't heal, but we could diagnose some illnesses with our supernatural senses. It was obvious to us when someone suffered with a bad heart, or when they consumed too much alcohol. We often warned petitioners to follow the diet of Daniel – eating only vegetables and drinking only water. I could read unresolved guilt and pain, and Marcus could tell when a marriage or other relationship was in trouble.

Still it was my sister Didyme who brought people to Volterra. She merely touched people, and made them feel the joy of an encounter with God. She was the personification of our father. Everyone wanted to be near her. She was deeply in love with Marcus, and he worshiped the ground she walked upon. She reflected that love to all those who came in contact with her.

My own wife was never in danger of loving me. We had relations at first, but then she decided she preferred human men. She enjoyed playing with her food.

For three hundred years we built our reputations and our town. We built the castle and cathedral to bring in more pilgrims, and we observed all the requisite holy days. Caius wrote the laws, and we observed them. Over the years, others joined us, and we became legendary.

Legends have a way of falling.

When the Romanians came against us, we were completely unprepared. Their attack was merely a warning, and a demand that we pay them tribute. They changed who we were. They took away our softness and honed us to a razor's edge. They gave us a new focus

They killed Didyme.

Marcus was distraught and he sought to follow them and throw his life away trying to avenge her. But Caius counseled him to be patient. We took our time, and we built up our forces, and we obediently paid their tribute. We reinforced the wall around the city, and we trained.

Ten years later, when we marched on Poenari Castle in Romania, we weren't a dozen hapless immortals. We were a force of almost a hundred, trained and ready to kill. We slaughtered them. All but the two leaders, whom we left alive to witness that we were the law. They would pay tribute to _us,_ or we would come back and eliminate them. They believed us.

Volterra rose in power and prominence, and even though the Holy Roman Empire collapsed, we were still strong. We were still the law.

Until Joham came to us.


	2. Part II

Part II

Didyme's death killed Marcus as well. The three of us; Caius, Marcus, and myself, had evolved into a triumvirate, but he was a shell of his former self. I knew that he'd searched for decades to find her, and he knew there would never be another woman for him. He gave up.

When Chelsea joined us, she used her power to make him let go of his obsession with her memory. But it left him a hollow, joyless man. Nothing interested him, and he truly became a walking corpse. In spite of his lackluster persona, Chelsea helped us grow the coven into the most powerful in the world. Vampires of all kinds wanted to join us, and we could be selective. The Guard took shape, and we had a fast and powerful army, which could go anywhere and strike down any who opposed either us or the law.

The law evolved and we were the law.

I met Carlisle when he came to Volterra. Almost all of our kind comes here at least once. All roads lead to Volterra, if you're a vampire. He was seeking answers, but what he found was a woman. He should have stuck to his original goal.

He was unusual, and she was quite common. Gabriella had been turned by someone who'd wanted to keep a pretty young thing for his pleasure, but decided she wasn't to his liking. It happens. I'd read her, and knew she had an inflated sense of herself, and she was ambitious for fame and glory. She was talented and beautiful, and she thought the laws did not apply to someone of her caliber. But no one is _that _beautiful.

The story is quite tragic. Had she visited the Volterra before Didyme was killed, we would have welcomed her, and invited her to sing for the services and celebrations – she would have had fame. But she came at a time when we were fighting to establish the law.

I regret the way it played out. I was only just getting to know Carlisle, and his strange beliefs. He was one of a kind, and so fascinating to me. He was and is one of the most controlled of our kind. The only one I've seen rival him was his adopted son, Edward. If I had known we would so thoroughly lose him, I would have voted to spare the girl.

Marcus knew. He tried to tell me, but I wouldn't listen. I actually thought I was saving the young doctor from being involved with a very shallow woman, like my own Sulpicia. And of course Caius was all about the law, and what he saw as her arrogant disobedience. Regardless of how it looks to outsiders, executions are rare.

He left us after her death. I had hoped that he would stay and make his home with us, but it was over a hundred years before we saw or heard from him again. Ironically it took another death sentence to bring him to my notice. He was witnessing for the Denali coven, when Sasha and Vasili were killed. He stood by as the vampire child was destroyed, closing his eyes during the deed.

When it was time for us to pass the sentence for Sasha, he argued for us to show lenience. Again, it was futile, even though he argued that his friends had planned to raise the child on an animal diet, we all knew there was no "raising" for a vampire child. In the matter of Sasha, I didn't share what touching her had revealed. So great was her desire for children, she would have tried again. Even as she watched Vasili being fed to the flames, she was imagining her next child.

I didn't hear of Carlisle for many years afterward. When I did, I was surprised to hear he had a coven of his own. More importantly, he had discovered another mind reader. I wanted so much to go and meet with this young prodigy, but we had so many matters of our own to attend to.

Because of the nature of Volterra, we are often influenced by both religion and politics. Other covens can simply move, or weather a storm, but we're often forced to play more of a part in the human dramas than we would like. World War II was one time where we were caught up in human conflict. We wanted to step out of the conflict entirely, like the Vatican. But we weren't given the opportunity. When the Germans came, we chose to abandon our home. The residents of the town would fare much better without us, and our buildings would be too tempting to take as their headquarters.

After so many rules and so much restraint over the years, the Volturi were anxious to live as real vampires once again – even if it were only a short time. It's noted that the casualties in Italy were higher than any other country during the war. You'd have to believe in myths and monsters to understand how so many soldiers fell, not to bombs and bullets, but to teeth and thirst. War for us was like an enormous buffet, whether we supported the Axis or the Allies. The more conscientious of us would feed from the gravely injured or dying – which were numerous. At least I thought that's what a conscientious vampire would do.

I was shocked when I heard of a certain blond doctor who was actually _saving _the wounded. Of course it would be foolish to go anywhere near London at that time, but he was right there in the midst of the bombing! It was Felix who'd told me, as he'd ventured into England on his hunts. Even my ferocious guardsman wouldn't stay in London during a blitz – but Carlisle had.

It was shortly after the deaths of Mussolini and Hitler when I got my first chance to meet the younger Cullen's. Our coven had started to trickle back into Volterra, though there was significant damage to the structures we occupied. We were only about half strength, when they turned up in the heat of the summer. Four were clearly couples, but the mind reader was alone. They had come to Europe in search of their sire.

To say I was fascinated with this group was an understatement. I welcomed them joyfully, and it was my first touch of the lovely Alice, which set my mind reeling. Her mind was so complex! I've met many who tried to block me, but she did so effortlessly. I could read her, of course, but there were many thoughts that were inaccessible to me. It took me a little time, but I realized the things she hid from me were instances of precognition. She saw the future!

Her husband had an ability that would have fascinated me, if he weren't standing in her shadow. The sensing and enhancing of emotions is a powerful ability. I could easily see he would be a great compliment to Marcus and Chelsea if he joined us.

However, I made a terrible mistake, which cost me the Cullen's; likely forever. I had hopes that they would join us, even if Carlisle could be found. In fact I imagined that the doctor would find his way to us as well, and bring his wife Esme. It was my affinity for Alice, which made me misstep. I wanted her – desperately. She was perfection, with her challenging mind, and her incredible power. But she was also familiar to me. She reminded me of my own mother, and of my sister Didyme.

Her petite form, and lively mannerisms drew me like no other woman. She was graceful and spontaneous, and she had a zest for life that reminded me of what I'd been trying to capture for so long. For her I would have left my own wife. For her I would even have left Volterra itself.

Perhaps I'm just lying to myself. I had always known that I couldn't just divorce Sulpicia. Truly the only way to rid myself of her was to leave Volterra and all I knew. Divorce wasn't an option for me, I would have had to kill her to be free of her, if I wished to remain in Volterra. She was always lucky there was never any woman worth the cost of 'til death do us part.' But I imagined that Alice was that woman.

I admit it, I asked Chelsea to split them up. Chelsea can sever weak bonds, and weaken strong ties. She can create loyalties where none exist, and she can essentially take one tie and give it to another.

She failed.

Not only could she not break their ties; Jasper seemed to know something was amiss. Before I'd even had a chance to spend time alone with the powerful group, they took their leave of Volterra. I found out later, that they'd reconnected with Carlisle, who had been gravely injured in an explosion. They took him back to the new world, and I didn't hear much more about them until a young human girl named Bella, happened to figure out their secrets.

In the sixty years that passed there were many changes. Superstition gave way to science and technology. Religion bowed to reason, and mankind learned to devalue life the same way we did. We went from being horrible evils of nightmares, to romanticized figures of fiction.

We also became the ones who remembered. Our tiny pocket of Italy was no longer a place of pilgrimage for holy communion with God. We became a historic site of tourism, where it seemed time had stood still. Indeed, for many of us, time did stand still. Volterra was the place where people could see the robes of the religious hierarchy, and watch a ceremony performed exactly as it had been for hundreds of years.

For our kind, all roads still lead to Volterra, and we were still the law. But we were the law in a changed world. Planes replaced ships, and cars replaced horses. Humans could almost travel as fast as we could. They could certainly kill on a scale that dwarfed us. In a world where one bomb could kill thousands, we needed to be ever vigilant, and guard our secrets. It is said that we are the only ones who can kill our kind, but humans discovered ways to kill one another that would certainly work on us as well.

Caius had always warned us about a time when humans and vampires would clash. We had guarded his one ability, and propagated the story that he alone of our triumvirate had no talent. He in fact had the greatest power of us all – the power to unify us. Still we knew any clash with modern humans could easily mean our extinction. We would likely win many battles against them, for surely it would take time before they would acknowledge our very existence. But once we were a known threat, we were few in number, and we could be eliminated.

Even Caius believed we should avoid this conflict at all costs. It was the reason our laws were so harsh, and the punishments so steep. All it would take is one indiscreet revelation, and all of us could suffer. In our ever shrinking world, the possibility for discovery multiplied. Where once a witness had to rely on word of mouth, now there was mass media. We could be video taped, we could be photographed, we could be recorded, and those images could be sent around the world in seconds.

The punishments for vampire wars and newborn armies became even greater. We may not have been able to eliminate all the hostility, but we made open warfare punishable by extermination. The Southern U.S. wars stopped, and those that continued, were so far into South America, they were hidden away in undeveloped and uncivilized areas.

We turned a blind eye to these warring factions, when we should have paid closer attention to those undeveloped areas. But we thought we had time, and we each had our own little agenda's which we pursued. Caius had his law, Marcus had his memories, and I had my collection. I also had my files of sweet Alice's memories. I could ponder the maze of her thoughts for hours, gleaning bits and pieces of her past and present, along with tantalizing glimpses of the future.

It was those future predictions which captivated me. Sifting through her memories was akin to reading an intelligence brief which was in code. I had the memory, but I had to learn to read it. I saw glimpses of the girl, Bella, and I also saw pieces of a terrible war. I saw a vampire named James, and my dear Alice tearing him to pieces. I saw the first hints of a newborn army marauding through the Pacific Northwest, and I saw a child who was more than human, coming through Carlisle's coven.

As fascinated as I was with Alice, I envied her husband Jasper. The couple who came with them shared a great and lustful physical attraction to one another, and it was amusing to look at their memories. But the memory Jasper had of my Alice – _his Alice_ – made me burn with envy. They loved each other passionately and unconditionally. It is so rare to see that kind of love among our kind, and he had it with the woman I adored.

I peeked into his memory of their intimate moments with prurient interest. But it was more a punishment, as I was confronted with everything I could never have. Seeing her loving eyes gazing at him, I tried to imagine it was me, but the truth always won out.

It was her second visit to Volterra that yielded a future memory I would cherish. I uncovered a vision of us together. It was a small scrap of possibility buried deep in the layers of her mind, and I pondered and poked at it until I could see it fully. I knew twelve years before the fact, that she would be mine! It was one of the few things that gave me joy. It was this tiny sliver of intimacy with the woman I loved, which got me through Joham's occupation of my beloved Volterra.

The more recent Cullen visits gave me many things to ponder. First was Carlisle's offspring, asking to be destroyed. Just touching him made me want to shake him. He'd had the kind of love I dreamed of, and he'd turned away! He allowed his true love to kill herself because he didn't want to change her. He was an idiot, but I wouldn't destroy him for stupidity alone. I knew how strongly Carlisle felt about our death sentences, and young Edward was too valuable to lose. Still I read that he would push the issue, and we'd likely be forced to end him, if he refused to see reason.

When Felix and Demetri brought the trio to us, I was overjoyed to see my Alice again. She was so sweet, and I imagined she was even flirting with me. I truly wished I was alone with them, as Caius was harping about laws being broken and punishments being meted out. The girl who had not killed herself as it turned out, clung to Edward like he alone could save her. Indeed, he stood up to Jane, and took her punishment for the girl.

She was just a human girl. I knew that Caius would demand her death – Felix and Demetri were already salivating for a taste of her. I knew her blood was irresistible to young Edward, and yet he did resist. He loved her so completely he'd even overcome his very nature to be near her. It reminded me so much of three hundred years prior, when a young Carlisle had begged for the life of a pretty young opera singer. We'd denied him, and lost him. I was reluctant to make the same mistake twice.

I had to see her memories. As Caius was so fond of saying, there was always a loophole in any good law. I hoped to find that hole, and save the girl from her fate. Her timid touch told me all there was to know, and yet it told me nothing! She was a blank – completely unreadable to me, as well as her young love. I suddenly had a new appreciation for the pair. He had found the one creature in the world he could love, without being subjected to her every thought intruding on his mind. And she held the potential for a great power, if she were changed.

Felix and Demetri would have to slake their thirst somewhere else; the girl wasn't going to be destroyed if I had anything to say about it.

Thankfully Alice gave me the loophole I sought. From her mind, I glimpsed the chance of Bella becoming one of us, even though Edward seemed horrified at this possibility. I tried to remember his youth, and not treat him harshly for his foolishness. He had no idea how loneliness felt, compounded over hundreds of years. Both Marcus and I shared this knowledge, and so we voted to spare the girl.

I hated letting them go. I wanted them to stay with me, especially after I'd fed, and the fresh blood washed some of Alice's future predictions to the forefront of my mind. I saw so many little glimpses of what could happen. It's when I learned that there was a possibility Alice could some day be my lover. I also saw a future where I could have the lovely Bella. Both of these fragments would haunt me, and sustain me through some very dark times.

Carlisle Cullen's coven gained in strength and respect. First it was the destruction of James the tracker. He'd visited Volterra once, maybe a hundred years before, and he wanted to join the guard then. He was the best tracker I'd seen since Alistair had abandoned us. But I'd just acquired Demetri. I would have gladly taken James and his small coven, but he was undisciplined, and arrogant, and he refused to acknowledge Demetri as his superior. I didn't need someone who refused to follow the hierarchy.

Hearing the way he'd threatened the girl young Edward loved, and how they'd dealt with him, made me feel there was some hope for the boy yet. He would die for her, and he would kill for her – it was only a small step for him to realize he needed her even more than she needed her humanity.

James' death left Victoria without her mate, and set her on a path of destruction, from which even her ability couldn't save her. I had to send out the guard, when it became obvious that someone was creating a newborn army in Seattle. I should have known it would involve the Cullen's.

The Cullen's disagreed with our law to exterminate all newborns created to fight in a war. Once again Carlisle would take issue with the punishments we'd decreed. The newborn who surrendered had to be destroyed since it was the law. But there was a good reason for the law. In most instances, the newborns were often created from the same pool of humans, and from populations local to the war. It was highly unlikely that the girl would remain invisible, even if she could control her thirst. Inevitably they always go home, just to say goodbye, or see their loved ones again. It is the mass media which makes it impossible to insure that one newborn could remain hidden away for fifty or more years, until all who remembered her were gone.

The creation of newborns is always a difficult choice, and often requires some proof of the new one's death. Because of the thirst, they need to be carefully watched and managed until they gain proper control and discernment. They need to move away from their homes, friends and families, and cut all ties.

I knew the Cullen's would not require this of their surrendered newborn. They had been living among humans and as humans for so long they had begun to believe anyone could do it. Leaving her alive, would have insured a return trip to rectify our oversight, and clean up another mess.

Of course it wasn't my decision, but Jane's. As much as I wanted to go myself and again see my lovely Alice and the intriguing Bella, I sent the guard instead. Jane carried out her instructions to the letter, as I knew she would.

I trusted Jane.

I trusted her, but I didn't like her. Of the twins, the more likable one was of course Alec. Both of them were turned too young, though they were physically mature. We really had no choice in turning them, as we quite literally rescued them from being burned at the stake. It always amazes me how humans can call us monsters, and continue to visit such torturous death upon one another.

We were almost too late. We had a habit of listening for rumors of individuals with strange talents, and certain gifts. It was how we managed to find gifted vampires. Chelsea was a gifted matchmaker before her conversion, and Demetri was an incredible detective who could find anyone. We heard of the witch twins and went to investigate. Their village was afraid of them, merely for the fact that strange signs happened when they were near. Cows gave curdled milk, and chickens laid green eggs.

The two had been abandoned by their parents, and they were surviving by telling fortunes, and selling a potent tea made from mushrooms and other ingredients they gathered in the woods. They knew secrets people wanted left buried, and extorted money to keep them quiet. They were quite clever, but they were harmless. We decided to watch them and wait til they were older.

The tide of religious fervor turned, and within months there were witch burnings and drownings all across Europe. I remembered the twins, and I thought maybe we should bring them to Volterra to keep them safe. I took Felix with me, and we came to their village on the run. We smelled the fires from a great distance, and the smell of burning flesh made us run. Even a mile away I could hear her screams.

I was injured myself from charging into the flames, and what I pulled from the fire didn't look human, and was barely alive. As Felix tore into the crowd of watching villagers, I thought to end their suffering quickly. They had been tied together, and though the ropes had burned away, their flesh had melted them together with the heat.

It was touching them and reading their memories that made me change my mind. They were completely and totally devoted to one another. I saw the things they'd done to survive, and I knew little Alec had already killed a man he found raping his sister. She had nursed him from the brink of death when he'd come down with pneumonia, and they both gave to one another selflessly. I found myself wanting to save such loving and devoted beings.

I bit them, and they began the change. Watching their burned flesh writhe in agony, made me question my decision. But when they began to heal, they clung together blindly in their suffering. When the change was complete, it didn't take me long to realize that the harmless witch twins had become truly powerful and terrifying.

Felix and I had fed well from the village spectators. But most of them had fled to their homes. The newborn twins easily escaped our watchful eyes, and ran back to the village. Those who were unlucky enough to fall within their spell would rue the day they ever burned someone at the stake.

They had not even stopped to clothe themselves. Both were still bald, and they were furious. Alec stole their senses, forcing them to wander blindly in fear. But it was Jane, and her volatile temper who truly made them suffer. Again we heard the screams of people being burned at the stake, but no fire was set, but that which was in her mind.

It was a great spectacle, and we would eventually have laws against what they did. But I allowed them their revenge – the villagers had brought it on themselves. The twins had taken three days to go through their transformation. It took them six days to finish torturing the villagers to their satisfaction.

It was then that Jane simply came alongside me, and asked to come with us. They had acquired clothes, and both were ready to travel. They knew who had saved them, and from that moment on, they belonged to me.

I appreciated their incredible power. There was none as fierce as Jane, and Alec though more subtle, was even more dangerous. Still, I lamented the loss of the tenderness they had once shared. Their human memories were dim, and though they were still devoted to one another, they had lost their softness and humanity.

They'd become vampires.

I should have remembered that Jane wasn't just a twin, and a powerful vampire, but also a woman. Not that I didn't recognize her as female, but that I should have realized that women come with their own brand of trouble.

It took years for her hair to grow back. She fit so perfectly into life at Volterra, I didn't even take much note of the change. With her hair came her reclamation of her womanhood. She was so young, and yet she wanted what a woman wanted. She already had love and devotion from her brother Alec. What she lacked, was a physical connection.

She chose me for that connection.

Married! I told her I was married, and I really did believe in upholding that sacred covenant, even if my wife did not. But Jane was not one to take no for an answer. She pursued me, flirting and teasing in a way that shouldn't have been known to one so young. I was somewhat flattered, but I knew what intimacy meant for me. It meant knowing every thought and emotion to pass through my lover's mind. I could barely tolerate it with my wife, and I'd touched Jane enough to know she'd grown hard -hearted. I didn't want intimacy with someone who enjoyed causing pain.

But the child was wily, and stubborn.

She got help in her quest to bed me. Of all the people to ask, she went to my wife. I learned later that Sulpicia thought it was quite funny to help her out. She didn't care if I bedded another woman, so long as it didn't embarrass her.

My wife asked for an evening of marital duty. I dreaded these encounters, which were thankfully rare. I readied myself, and waited for her in our seldom used bed. When she appeared, she was lovely, and dressed so alluringly. Sulpicia has never had trouble attracting men. I wondered why she asked me to extinguish all the lights, but I complied.

By the time I realized the darkness was too complete, it was too late. Jane was in my bed, and doing things to me which would have made them burn her at the stake again if they knew! Such things only the highest paid courtesan's would do – no matter how common it became in modern times.

My resolve melted in her mouth. Her mind was open to so many possibilities when it came to intimacy, and I learned she had been practicing among humans. The things she was willing to do to and with me, flooded through my mind, and incited a passion within me that overlooked everything that was wrong with our union. I took her, and savored everything she freely offered.

We were lovers. In her arms I was fully a man, and she met me with an open willingness I never knew was possible. Her youth knew no taboos, and she was wanton and adventurous, and quite insatiable in bed. I loved it!

Historically, sex between a man and his woman was a duty. It was a necessity to create children, and it was his right as a husband. It wasn't necessary for her to want it or like it. It was her duty only to submit, and if she did not, he was perfectly within his rights to force her. A woman who actually enjoyed sex and wanted it, would have been considered a harlot.

Jane didn't care about propriety, she only cared about having her needs met. She was clearly a woman ahead of her time. When we were together I didn't have to worry about her thoughts, because she was so carried away with the physical side of our union, it obliterated any other thoughts.

We were together for a tempestuous three months. We spent long hours in one another's arms, and I confess, I was falling for her. There were moments, when we were lying together, spent and alone, when I caught glimpses of the soft girl she had been. She would snuggle against me, and I could feel the beginnings of a loving connection.

My wife of course would not tolerate such a thing. It was one thing for her to allow the young waif to have me physically, but quite another for her to allow feelings to develop between us. Just as she followed in Heidi's footsteps, ignoring every human law on moral decency, she took little Jane aside and suggested and encouraged her to throw off the chains of human sexual slavery, as she called it.

I went from being her lover, to being completely abandoned by the girl. She avoided me for quite some time, and when I finally found out why, I was dumbfounded. Sulpicia had suggested that since she already had love and companionship from her brother; there was no reason why she shouldn't enjoy him in the flesh. Jane had initiated an incestuous relationship with her own brother, at my wife's urging. Not that I have the high ground to stand on when it comes to morality, but incest was one of those taboos that showed just how far we were from human.

My wife seemed to take special delight in flouting all those human values. I knew for a fact she bedded her male victims before she fed on them. I had thought it was merely a symptom of the way she hated me, but it turned out she enjoyed it. It was one of the reasons I loathed her touch, as the memories of those encounters illustrated perfectly how cold and hard she really was.

I saw so many men falling for her charms, leaving behind wives and paramours to follow her to her bed, and their eventual deaths. She didn't just enjoy them physically, but she toyed with their emotions as well. She promised them love and commitment, and often visited them several times before she took them. They lavished her with gifts and treasures, and promised undying love and adoration.

It sickens me to know that she would bite them during the act, and their struggles excited her. She was an example of all that was wrong with our kind. I determined that after what she'd convinced Jane to do, I would no longer be available for "marital duties."

Still, even though my wife had ruined it for me, I still trusted Jane. She still held a soft spot for me, even though she would never love me. Demetri may have been the Captain of the Guard, but it was Jane I often chose to lead them.

When she returned from America and told me of the way the Cullen's handled the newborn army, I was impressed. They were so talented, they didn't suffer a single loss. I was also shocked to hear about the wolves. I kept this knowledge from Caius, as he was terrified of werewolves. I knew he'd make it his goal to eradicate them, even if they weren't true Children of the Moon.

My endless years were increasingly lonely and dull. Marcus was a lifeless shell, Caius was pompous and legalistic, and I was a man desperate for change, but equally afraid of it.

I listened to Caius ranting about the other covens, and what his spies and minions told him about them. I always listened closely when the Cullen's were mentioned.

The woman Irina was impossible to ignore. She came to us with an impossible story of an immortal child, created by Carlisle's coven. She knew better than most, the seriousness of the charge. Her own coven had suffered the punishment which came from creating a vampire child. What surprised me most, was that she was implicating the Cullen's, who were known to be friends with her Denali clan.

When I touched her, I saw that her lover had been destroyed by the wolves, who were also friends with the Cullen's. Indeed, this offense was the reason the Denali had refused to aid in their earlier conflict with Victoria and her newborn army. What enthralled me was the image in her mind of the mysterious Bella, who was clearly a vampire. With Edward by her side, they were obviously hunting, and the breathtakingly beautiful child was following after them.

It was not what I expected, and I thought Irina must have been mistaken. The girl child didn't look out of control, and there was something about the image that bothered me. Even as Caius geared up to confront them, I looked again and again at the images she'd given me. It wasn't right.

Caius gleefully called everyone together. He longed to flex the muscles of the Volturi, which hadn't been tested since we'd defeated the Romanians. Destroying a vampire child was only the pretext for our attack. We were going to dismantle the Cullen coven, and either destroy or acquire them. Caius was afraid of them, and a fearful Cauis was a dangerous Caius.

I worried that in such a conflict, I would lose Carlisle forever. We only accepted the most powerful, and his wife wouldn't have been accepted. Nor did we have a desire for the lovely, talentless Rosalie. Emmett could be useful in the guard, but it was unlikely he would see reason once his mate was destroyed. And of course, Jasper would have to die, merely for the sin of being married to my Alice.

Moving a force the size of the Volturi is difficult under the best of circumstances, and we hoped to have stealth on our side. It didn't work out that way, thanks to my Alice. Our visit to America was supposed to be one of our finest hours, but instead it became the beginning of our downfall.

**A/N: A couple reviewers have mentioned that Aro killed Didyme himself. I either missed this detail in my reading or it came from Midnight Sun, or T.S.S.L.o. Bree Tanner; which I have not read. I've also been told Meyer has answered questions about her characters in various interviews, and they're not in the books. Wherever this detail is found, I'm claiming creative license, and in _my_ story she's killed by the Romanians. I never claim to write cannon in any of my stories. I only hope to give a wink and a nod to cannon and go on to tell my story. Hope this clears up any other inconsistencies. **


	3. Part III

Part III

We gathered; robed and cowled in frightening perfection. Each of us took our place in our deadly formation. Our wives brought up the rear, which was my suggestion. Caius believed it was the place that offered them the most protection, but I knew the rear could also be a target for surprise attack. I had been trained in military tactics by the best warriors on the planet. It gave me a perverse sense of satisfaction to have my wife in a place of potential danger, while she thought she was being protected.

We had our witnesses as well – hungry, undisciplined vampires who would gladly pick off the weak. As we marched into the clearing that day, I felt such a sense of anticipation. Soon – perhaps even that very night – I would bring my Alice into my bed and my arms.

But they had prepared as well. Their side was small and insignificant next to ours, but it was still more than we had expected. It was just enough opposition that we paused.

I've often wondered what would have happened had we charged in as we'd originally planned. Certainly many would have died, and I'm sure my wife would have been among them, as the giant wolves patrolled the perimeter. I believe I would have survived, as I was positioned amid so many defenders.

Alice too would have survived, as she would have arrived too late to fight with her family. Though I could imagine taking her from the conflict as spoils of war, I know she would never be grateful to me, once I allowed her mate to be destroyed. In all of my fantasies, I could never convince her that she should yield to me and love me.

If we'd charged that day, we may have sated Caius' need for blood. Perhaps we could have postponed our meeting with Joham. I wonder what he would have done if allowed to continue unmolested for a few hundred years more. I can't help but imagine a hybrid army marching against both vampire and human alike. It's useless to play such mind games.

We did not charge that day.

It was only when I finally had the chance to see the child for myself that I realized what was wrong with the vision Irina had shown me. She had green eyes! Impossibly she was a supernatural creature born – not created – of a human girl. Edward Cullen and his singer, Isabella, had created a marvel. No matter what Caius said, it was clear she posed no more danger than the rest of us. She wasn't out of control at all. She sat atop an enormous wolf, and I had to give her mother credit for her forethought. The very child we'd come to destroy, could easily have been the only one to survive.

Once we spoke to them, our whole strategy needed to change. I was caught off guard when Caius had the woman Irina destroyed for lying. It was a perfect indicator that he wouldn't easily back down.

He was angry, and I'm sure I was at least part of the reason he was so furious. The wolves unnerved him greatly, and I'd kept this knowledge from him. As we pretended to confer over whether the child should live or die, we were trying to figure a way to salvage as much as we could from the confrontation. Caius wanted the child destroyed, likely guessing that the Cullen's would fight to save her, and he would get his battle.

I truly wanted nothing more than to go home. Alice wasn't anywhere in the gathering. In preparation for the potential fight, Alec turned his power on the group we faced. We were trying to decide who we would keep, and who we would destroy, when there was a commotion.

Alec failed.

Jane instantly knew we'd been defeated, and when she tried to use her power against Bella, she too failed. I was again dumbfounded – the girl was a shield! Not just a shield, but the most powerful shield I'd ever seen. She made Renata's ability seem pathetic in comparison. She had their whole side guarded, rendering every mental power on our side absolutely useless.

We stood poised on the brink of a battle we were less certain of winning, when she arrived. My Alice. Accompanying her was of course her husband. But there was also a man who moved like us, but whose heart beat in his warm-blooded chest. Bella and Edward had done the seemingly impossible, but they were not the first. It was the first time we'd heard the name Joham. I only wish it could have been the last.

Failures on all sides forced us to withdraw. Caius fumed all the way back to Volterra, and even before our plane landed he had a plan to make "them" suffer. "Them" happened to be anyone who wasn't strongly allied with us. He wanted to hunt down those who'd fled from the conflict, but more than that, he wanted to find and punish Joham.

Once we were back in Volterra, I had to come up with something to slow him down. We'd already lost a lot of credibility among those who'd witnessed our defeat. I wasn't anxious to run off and start another war.

"Shouldn't we first see what kind of dangers are posed by the hybrids?" I of course had Edward's memories of the gestation and birth of his child. But his recollections were so emotional, it was hard to understand everything that had been involved. It was evident that his wife didn't survive the birth. It was also clear that Joham's children also destroyed their mothers.

I wish I could say I was concerned for the mothers of these half-breed children. But I'm a vampire who feeds on human victims, and these women were nothing to me. So when Caius suggested, as I'd lead him, that we should create our own half vampire offspring, I was in agreement. It was at least a postponement of another battle. It took his focus away from his anger at me.

As little as I cared for women, it became strangely important to find just the right candidates for our own offspring. We'd decided that the three of us would each make the attempt, as we were the oldest, and most likely to have the necessary control. For Sulpicia's benefit, I had propagated the lie that I had sexual relations with some of my female victims. I never did. Indeed the very idea was repugnant to me. I wasn't sure I had the necessary control it would take.

We began the search for our candidates. Typically we hunt from those forgotten people society won't miss. Prostitutes, drug addicts, runaways, drunks, and physically and mentally ill were all good sources of food. But they wouldn't do as mothers for our children. It took time, and we made trips to other cities in search of just the right young women to fulfill our needs.

Marcus was the first to succeed. He found her in a nightclub in Milan, and with his considerable charm, he wooed her away from her friends. Her name was Tamara, and she was exquisite. I was instantly jealous when I saw her, until I noticed her resemblance to Didi. His seduction took her from the nightclub, to a hotel room, where he continued to ply her with alcohol. He never told me with his words, but I read it from his mind how she was barely conscious when he took her the first time.

We drove back to Volterra with a bound captive. Marcus left her no opportunity to escape, and he had her bound to his bed for the month it took to impregnate her. Before she conceived, Caius kidnapped a young student from a tour. Yanna was blond, frail and lovely, and he locked her into a cell in the lower levels to keep his wife from finding out. He was perhaps too enthusiastic in fornicating with the girl, and she was covered in serious bruises the next day when I saw her. She looked as if she'd been beat up. I held out little hope for her survival.

I found the mother of my child in the most unlikely of places. I went with Heidi as she went to her favorite hunting grounds. It was in a mental hospital where I caught sight of the girl. She was young and beautiful, and at first I didn't realize why I was attracted to her. Then it hit me – she was like Alice from the memories I had of her from her husband.

The girl was locked in her own mind from an injury to her brain. I only knew her name from the bracelet on her wrist. Touching her was like hearing white noise in my mind. Rachele was easy to take. I merely held her hand and walked away with her while the guards were distracted.

I rationalized that in choosing her, I was allowing a healthy girl to live. I saw her as existing, rather than living, and I could tell from her condition that she wouldn't be terribly missed. And of course there was the mind I couldn't read. As much as I admired Marcus' captive, I knew I could never choose a woman who would revile me even in her thoughts. And so I chose her, thinking of her as an empty vessel to carry my seed.

Before I would lie with her, she needed attention, and I asked Jane for help. The girl was marginally clean, but she was a mess, with her hair in a nest and dirt under her ragged nails. She looked barely female in the hospital clothes. Jane didn't let me down.

I was stunned when she presented me with a living doll. She had shoulder length auburn hair that curled around her face; which was beautiful for a human. Jane had given a light touch of make-up to her visage, and dressed her in a satin nightgown. Her nails were clean and polished, and she smelled wonderful. Her blue eyes looked right through took her leave, and I lead Rachele to my bed.

Even though she was unresponsive, I still treated her as a woman. I kissed her and held her, and told her she was beautiful. When I exposed her womanly flesh, I forced myself to go slow, and I explored her with my hands and mouth. It was torture! I wanted her badly, and yet I was confronted with the vileness of my acts. She could neither say yes nor no to my attentions. I was a vampire who had murdered countless humans. But I had never raped even one.

Rachele was the first. I was as gentle as a vampire could be. I'd ruined my wife, Sulpicia with my lack of restraint, I would never make such a mistake again. Owing to Edward's memories, I'd brought a heavy iron bar to cling to so I wouldn't crush her. Still, she pushed my limits! She was everything Sulpicia was not. She was soft, warm, and yielding, and I confess I enjoyed coupling with her. In fact for three weeks I spent a great deal of time making love with the girl. Yes, I called it making love, as it hurt my soul to think of it as anything else.

I could tell almost immediately when Rachele conceived, from her scent and the changes in her body alone. Marcus had already impregnated Tamara, and she was suffering with everything her child was doing to her. I was surprised how the baby Tamara carried stole everything from her. It soon became obvious to me that the half vampire babies were an affliction imposed on these mothers. They were not normal and they were not easy for them to carry. We knew to feed them blood and we knew to keep them warm, but other than that, we were helpless to watch what happened to them.

In a short time, Marcus came to care for Tamara, and he braved her hate-filled tirades to spend hours with her. Somewhere in the midst of her pregnancy, she softened toward him. I think she finally realized she couldn't possibly live through her ordeal. She understood that he was a vampire, and she was about to give birth to something inhuman. She went from anger at what he'd done to her, to begging him to save her life.

I was there when the time came, and just seeing what it did to her made me hate what I'd done to Rachele, who was only two weeks behind Tamara in her gestation. I wished I could take it all back. Feeding on our human prey is usually quick and mostly painless. But what Tamara went through was neither. It was made worse because she reminded me so much of Didi. I'd seen countless vampires go through the change, but this was different. This wasn't about her death and conversion, this was an attack from inside her own body.

We knew we had to cut her human flesh to reach it, but we didn't expect it would fight so hard to be free. I heard her bones snap. I watched her as she was in complete terrified agony. Her injuries would eventually kill her, but it would be a slow death. He tore the infant from her with his teeth, like Edward before him. He placed the bloody infant girl in the mother's slack arms. He'd decided to change Tamara, and he bit her then, before she bled out.

When the change started, I took the baby from her convulsing arms. I cleaned her up, and listened to her first soft cries amid her mother's shrieks. Marcus sat with Tamara and I took the baby girl out of his room. He had almost nothing prepared for a baby. I fed her from the stores of donated blood we used for the mothers. Her sharp teeth punctured the nipple of the bottle I offered, but she drank hungrily.

Clean, fed, and wrapped in blankets, she fell asleep in my arms. She was a treasure. She had long dark eyelashes, soft black curls, and a rosebud mouth. It was a pity she was female.

We have people – humans who do the mundane things we cannot. Someone has to sweep away the cobwebs and maintain the facilities. Someone has to shop for various necessities. I charged one of these humans with outfitting a nursery. The child grew so fast, she needed new clothes almost daily. Fortunately it was no longer my concern, as Tamara came through her change and Marcus took care of the child. Tamara was unable to be around the baby, as it was too much temptation for her to feed on the girl.

All the fuss connected with the baby, made Athenodora curious to find out what secrets we were hiding. She discovered Caius' prisoner in the cellar. I will never understand what drove that woman. She was enraged to know he was fornicating with another woman. But the expected response would have been to feed on the girl, not move her into her suite!

The tiny blond woman he'd chosen was not faring well with his treatment. His wife saved her life, which would have been admirable if that's all she did. Caius insisted he would impregnate the girl, and give the baby to his wife. Athenodora did the unthinkable, and I know only because I read her thoughts. She was there during their couplings! In fact she was the one who sated his sexual appetite, and only turned him over to the girl long enough to spill his seed.

All of us went down dark paths on our fools quest. I am a lesser man, because of what I did.

As much as I dreaded it, Rachele's time came. We had been expecting it, and I was unwilling to watch her go through the same agony Tamara had suffered. I had her drugged at the first sign of the impending birth. I wasted no time in cutting her open to retrieve the child. She neither spoke nor screamed. I also did as Edward Cullen had done, and injected her with my venom in an effort to change her quickly. The woman who carried my child deserved to live, no matter what that life might bring.

I had a son! His mother went through the first half of her change in silence, and I held him, completely captivated. I named him Angelo, as he was an angel to me. I fed him as I had Marcus' daughter, whom he'd named Marietta, and my child looked up at me with adoring eyes. For the first time in my entire existence, I was unconditionally loved!

Rachele writhed in her silent agony, and I took him from the room as her distress seemed to frighten him. When the healing of the venom reached her mind, she began to scream. It was the first time I'd heard her actual voice, and it tore through me with it's power. I had not created one of our kind, since the twins, and the sound of that innocent woman in such pain because of me, made me feel as if I were a fiend which had crawled from the pits of Hell.

I took Angelo and fled. There was no place I could hide within the walls, and not hear her piteous wails. It was in the cathedral where I hid, though only one of us deserved admittance. My Angelo granted me passage into a place where the wrath of God should have stuck me down; fiend that I was.

I gazed at the stained glass for hours, noting the events of the life of Christ. I had never believed before. But with an angel in my arms, the horror of what I'd done eating at my mind – indeed at my very soul – and a savior suffering on a cross before me, I had a sudden conviction. Looking at the image of an empty tomb, I felt an affinity with the one I'd pretended for so long to follow. I wondered whether Christ himself could have been one of us.

The hours we spent in the house of God were both my lowest and highest. I had no doubts I was a dark fiend. There I was, confronted with the only one who could save even the darkest, vilest, most evil, from eternal damnation. I prayed in the place where I'd once preyed.

The image of the empty tomb, with it's heavy stone rolled away, offered me solace. Once planted, the idea that he had been one of us, continued to grow. I knew the scriptures, as they were the trappings of my charade. But when I applied them to my new reasoning, they humbled me. It wasn't that I felt that I was His equal. I felt instead that God himself had created a perfect immortal, and we somehow had stolen what we were not intended to have.

My mind flew to a story of Christ in a crowd, and a woman with a bleeding illness had touched his garment. He felt power go out from him. Was it possible that his power could be stolen? I thought of each and every miracle he had done. I wondered if he was the perfect immortal, while we were merely caricatures living eternally with stolen power.

Again I came back to the image of the heavy stone pushed from the inside, by a deity raised from the dead, after _three days_. I recalled his friends and companions did not even recognize him. He found them where they hid. Any vampire could perform these miracles.

Of course there were aspects that didn't fit as well. He had scars, and he ate. But he also didn't want to be touched, and he frightened people with his mere presence. I held my son, and it was in his sweet face I found an answer I could cling to. He was my Solomon. After all King David had done in stealing the woman Bathsheba, Death took their first son, but later God relented and gave him Solomon.

Could Angelo be my forgiveness?

I went back. I was told that Rachele's change was complete. I was afraid to expose her to our son, so I left him in the care of Athenodora, who was quite happy to look after him.

Throughout this whole plot...experiment... folly... whatever we could call it, Sulpicia was strangely noncommittal. She didn't care that I'd taken a captive to my bed, and she didn't care that Rachele conceived my child. She was absent from the whole proceeding. So it was a surprise to see her leaving my rooms.

She seemed surprised to see me – startled even. I caught hold of her as she tried to pass. It was there in her mind. She had her own plot, which involved luring away the newborn mother, and setting her free to slake her newborn thirst in Volterra – sealing her fate.

"I didn't do it!" She was quick to defend herself, even before I could accuse her. "I would have, and gladly, but she's already gone!" I'd never wanted to strike a woman as much as I did in that moment. It wouldn't have hurt her. She likely would have gloated that she could make me lose control. I didn't waste my time on her, but instead went to search for the girl.

The door was still locked; Sulpicia was trying to cover her tracks. I searched my room, checking the wardrobe, the lavatory, and even under the bed. There were no windows, and the door was intact, but she was gone.

Then I smelled her. I followed the scent alone, and came right to the place where she stood, just beside the door. I gasped when my eyes met hers. If I had not known she was there, I wouldn't have seen her. She wasn't invisible, but my eyes saw only the wall. I couldn't trust my eyes.

She trembled where she stood. Her mouth dropped open and an inarticulate mass of sounds came out. I thought for sure whatever damage her mind had suffered, remained damaged through the change. She closed her mouth, and looked thoughtful, which was the most intelligent look I'd ever seen cross her face.

"Wh... where am I? H...who are you? I w... want Mama!" She looked panicked, and I tried to soothe her. Just touching her made her flinch, and she looked at me like I was something that had stepped from her nightmares. Depending on how much she remembered – I was.

I let go of her. "I am Aro. You're in a place called Volterra."

I want Mama! Where is she?"

"She's not here, Rachele. Dear heart, what do you remember?" I would have just taken the memory from her head, but from the one touch I'd already learned there was a huge blank in her mind. Fuzzy images surrounded a pit of gaping blackness that made me shy away from it.

"It hurt! Like I fell in the fire and burned!" She panted in her distress, and I put my hand on her covered shoulder.

"That part is over now. What do you remember from before the fire?"

Her eyes fastened on mine. "You... I remember your face, but I don't know you. Mama! I remember Mama. I... we crashed! The car was ruined, and Mama pulled me out. There was blood all over me... in my eyes. Mama's crying... and then there's... nothing."

"Rachele, what else do you remember – before the crash?" When I'd found her, she was healthy, all but her mind. How long had her injuries taken to heal? How long had it taken for her mother to abandon her to the mental hospital?

"I think... we were going to visit Nonni. I was going to ride the pony. Yes, the pony Nonni got when I turned ten! I had apples for her, and a new currycomb. Her name is Twinkle, and I have to wait for her side to heal before I'm allowed to ride her." She looked as excited as a little girl.

I stood before her, feeling wretched with the realization that her mind only had ten years worth of memories. I hadn't made love with a woman, I'd raped a child! She'd likely been in the hospital for at least six years. Her damaged mind had never grown up, and though she stood there in her woman's body, she wanted her mother, and a ride on a pony.

"I'm thirsty. My throat is so dry." Dear lord; I'd created an immortal child!

"Rachele, I need you to stay here for a while. I'm going to go get you something to drink, but you _have _to stay here, do you understand?"

"I'll stay here, Aro. Will you get my Mama too?" My god, what have I done! I left her there, hoping she wouldn't test her newborn strength on the door. I ran.

Perhaps it was the though of all the trouble with the Cullen's and the accusations that they had created a vampire child, but I was thinking of Carlisle and his chosen diet. I couldn't subject Rachele's innocent mind to killing a human. I tried not to think about the ramifications of her innocence. If there was no hope of teaching and training her to act as a responsible adult, then I'd have to destroy her.

I chose an animal. I rushed back with it, hoping that no one I knew would see me. I opened my door, and she was gone. I closed the door and put the sheep down. I was about to start looking for her, when she peeled away from the wall, where my eyes had again failed to see her.

She attacked the animal, purely out if instinct and need. I watched her feed, resisting the temptation myself. She drank deeply and efficiently. I listened for the heart to stop beating, to make sure she finished it. It wasn't an issue, and it was long dead before she raised her head.

She looked up at me with wide, terrified red eyes. I gently wiped the blood from her face, then she looked back down at the sheep. "I killed it! I didn't mean to – I'm so sorry! Why did I do this... what happened to me?" She looked up at me, wanting answers.

"I'm a vampire, and so are you, Rachele." I didn't know if she would even understand the term.

She giggled nervously. "Vampires aren't _real_. You don't even have a cape... or pointy teeth." I looked at the sheep, still dead on the floor. Her eyes followed mine.

"We're real, Rachele." She looked so frightened, and she started trembling. Without thinking I gathered her to me, and she pressed her face against my shoulder.

"I still want Mama!" I held her tight, trying to comfort her. Eventually I would have to tell her she could never see her mama again. We left my room, as the sheep was upsetting her. I lead her to the top floor, as it was unlikely we would run across any humans there. Marcus had sequestered his daughter up there, away from prying eyes. In an unused bedroom, I sat with Rachele and began explaining the unexplainable.

So much of what I told her upset her. I explained that she was no longer a little girl. I needed her to understand that she had to act like a grown-up. It was touchy explaining to her that she was also a mother. I wanted to keep the information from her, but I thought that would be cruel.

"I have a baby?" She looked equal parts delighted and disbelieving. "I would need a boyfriend..." She looked embarrassed.

"You're a young woman. Some day you'll get to see your baby, if you learn how to control your thirst."

"I want to see her now!" Her outburst worried me, as I thought it was a child's tantrum. But it was more an emotional lament of sadness and loss.

"Your baby is a little boy. I'm afraid to let you see him, since you could hurt him – like you did the sheep." She looked devastated.

"Aro, please... I promise I won't hurt him!"

"You might not be able to control yourself, Rachele. You're still too new and untried. I'm afraid I cannot allow it."

"Are you his father?" Her eyes were enormous as she looked at me. Did we make a baby together?" I would have given anything to deny the truth, but I couldn't lie to her.

"Yes."

"Did you make me a vampire?" Her questions were so direct in their innocence.

"Yes."

"Why?" She looked suddenly confused and shook her head. "I can't cry anymore! I'm so sad, but I can't cry."

"I made you a vampire so you wouldn't die. You can't cry, because vampires don't..." I was at a loss to give her a reason. I didn't know why we couldn't cry, I'd just accepted it, along with the cold, the sleeplessness, the reflective skin, and the thirst. It just _was._

"I don't know why we don't cry, Dear."

"Are you my boyfriend?" She looked away and picked at the lint on her nightgown.

"Do you want me to be your boyfriend, Rachele?" Her wide eyes met mine.

"I... you're handsome. But you're too old... I don't think I want a boyfriend." Part of me wanted to laugh, and part of me was disappointed. I had enjoyed being with her physically, after all. Now that it was possible to be with her without damaging her, I couldn't be with her. That she believed my twenty-four year old face was too old was laughable.

The room where we had our talk had a window which faced the setting sun. She enjoyed the view, and asked if it could be hers, once she learned that she couldn't go back home. I wanted her to feel comfortable, and I set about immediately having it decorated for her.

She wanted a princess suite, and I had her bed built up on a platform, with a canopy and drapes. Everything was gold leaf, gilt, sparkling and bejeweled. The bed was draped in her favorite colors, and I even put a bathtub in the suite. It was all to keep her from lamenting that her door was locked to hide her away.

Marcus and I had decided to keep our new additions secret from as many as we could. Caius was becoming more and more frustrated that his captive was not conceiving, though we had both become fathers. I read it from his mind that he wanted to outlaw the whole process, as he felt it was beneath us to consort with mere humans in such a way. Marcus would likely vote against him in such a ruling, but I had no idea how I would vote.

The children we'd sired were delightful, but they came at a cost. Rachele, with all her innocence was living proof of the horror we'd visited upon these women. I didn't want to think of them as women. I tried to think of them as vessels, merely serving a purpose which was higher and nobler than feeding us. But every time I looked into her blood red eyes and saw her look of bewilderment or sadness, I had to face the truth.

I should have known that I couldn't keep everything separated and compartmentalized. Nothing in my life was ever simple when it came to women. I had Angelo in my own suite, and Athenodora looked after him when I couldn't. She even attended him when I _could, _and she was quite attached to him. She had allowed Caius' captive to see him, so she could understand why she was being held and what they hoped to accomplish through her.

I wish she had not done so. Angelo was already mature enough to hunt, and it frightened the girl that he was only a couple months old. More to the point, I then had to answer Angelo's questions about the girl. He thought she was exotic, with her pale blond hair and blue eyes like his own. He wondered why she was a prisoner. I made up lies – I detest lying – and I knew he was dissatisfied with my answers.

How could I tell my angelic son that the girl he admired had been kidnapped? How could I even broach the subject of her expected purpose? I certainly knew I could never tell him that she was being raped on a regular basis. As if all that were not bad enough, I knew from Caius' thoughts, that he would not be turning the girl if she conceived and gave birth. Whether she bore his child or not, he'd already decided that within two months she would be dead.

It didn't take my son long to put it together that he had a mother who should be with him the way I was. He knew it wasn't Athenodora, and he began asking me questions about her. I did my best to explain that he had to wait to see her, since she could be dangerous. But he didn't understand what we were.

Because I'd thought of him as an angel, I fed him in the same way the Cullens had fed their half human child. I couldn't subject an innocent child to the kind of feeding I did. I had devised a hunting strategy, where I would take Rachele out to hunt animals on one night, and our son would go the next. I of course continued to feed on humans.

There were too many secrets being kept from too many people, and eventually the lies unraveled. Actually, the lies were pulled apart, by a deceitful woman who held one of the strings in her red taloned fingers. My wife. Even today it baffles me why the woman took such delight in making me miserable. Having failed at getting Rachele killed, she devised a new plan to steal my joy.

She had a long talk with Angelo. As much as I detested lying, the truth was particularly brutal. She told him the truth, spun in a way only a truly vindictive woman could spin it. All while speaking to him in a sugary sweet voice, like she was his best friend. I should have killed the bitch when she was still human.

She sowed the seeds of mistrust for me in his young mind. He didn't come to me with his questions. He went instead to find his answers on his own. While I was busy with some mundane detail of running our part of the city, Angelo went to look for his mother.

It was only seeing Sulpicia's face that made me think something was amiss. Even if I wasn't reading her mind, I could tell she was planning some kind of mischief, and she wanted plausible denial when the trap was sprung. She tried to do a graceful retreat, but I caught her and what I saw in her mind made me question again if Volterra was truly worth all I had to put up with from the woman.

I raced to find him before he met with disaster. I knew where she was, and I raced to the top floor. I heard Rachele scream as I came down the hall. I was too late. I paused a moment, terrified of what I'd find in her room. I didn't smell blood, but I heard her wailing and begging; "Wake up! Please wake up!"

I stepped into the room and she was holding him. He looked dead, and I felt my whole world tilt and crash. I gasped as pain tore through me like I'd never felt. Then I heard the sound of hope – his heartbeat.

"I'm so sorry! I don't know how he got in... he scared me, and I hid." She looked at me with frightened eyes. "He knew how to find me, and he said I was his mother! Oh my god is he dead?"

"What did you do? Did you bite him?" I fought not to snarl, she was already so distraught.

"I... I just hugged him. Oh no... you were right... I killed him! I shouldn't have touched him – I'm so sorry!

"Hush! Give him some room." She scooted away from him and crouched in fear with her wide eyes staring at me. I could barely hear his heartbeat, and I heard him struggle for breath. I wasn't a doctor, but I recognized the sounds of broken ribs. It was a mistake many of us have made with humans, though usually they were prey. She'd held him too tight and crushed him.

I watched him struggle for air, and I wondered how I could get him the help he needed. It would be impossible to take him to hospital, and I wasn't aware of medically trained people in Volterra. I contemplated calling Carlisle, but he was so far away, Angelo would certainly be dead by the time he arrived – if he came.

I pressed my ear to his chest and listened to see if his lungs were punctured. I didn't know what I was doing, but I didn't detect the pooling of blood in his chest, nor did I hear air rasping. Maybe he was young enough his bones didn't snap. As I listened, I heard one clear, deep breath. It was followed by several more, then he cried out in pain.

He struggled in my grasp, and cried out that I was hurting him. I laid him gently on the floor, but he continued to cry. Rachele was completely upset, and she reached out with a trembling hand, as if to sooth him, but she was afraid to touch him.

"It hurts Papa!" His cry was strong and I was overjoyed, even though he was in pain. It was pain he would live through. In all the memories I had of the hybrid child Renesmee, I'd never glimpsed the remarkable healing of the hybrid. Even as I watched, Angelo stopped all but his silent tears, and he carefully sat up. He was still upset, but I detected no injury in him.

He climbed into my lap and wrapped his arms around my neck. It was so strange to feel his tears against my cheek. I held him and soothed him, petting over his soft curls. I'd never loved anyone so deeply as I did my son in that moment.

"Is he okay?" Her timid voice opened my eyes, and I nodded slightly. "Can I see him?" She inched closer to us, crawling across the floor as if she feared he would break if she moved too quickly. I wanted to deny her. I wanted to take my son as far away from the one who'd hurt him as I possibly could. But she was his mother, and he turned in my arms to face her.

She reached out her hand, and he put his smaller one in hers. She smiled like I had never seen before. "You have eyes like my mama. Hers were bluer than mine – than mine used to be." She barely held his hand. "I'm so sorry I hurt you... it was an accident. I was just so glad to see you, and I sometimes forget how strong I am."

"Are you not tempted by him?" I still held him, ready to carry him away in an instant if she should attack him.

"A little bit... I mean he smells _really _good. But I would never try to bite him." I didn't know if I could trust her. But Angelo decided for me, and he wiggled free of me and put his arms around her where she sat. She held perfectly still as he kissed her cheek, then he smiled.

"You are my mother!" With his declaration, a bond formed between them I both enjoyed and envied. I didn't realize how much I loved being his parent, until I had to share the role with his mother.

In a very short time they became inseparable. They hunted together, and he spent most of his days in her room. I was always welcome there, but it often felt as if I were visiting an elementary school. Because Angelo had not had any education, and Rachele's had been cut short, their days were filled with reading, and getting lessons from the computer I had brought in for them. They both learned so fast, and she was a natural teacher when his interest waned. I watched as weeks and months flew by, and they both seemed to be growing up together.

Sadly it was during this time that Caius' captive conceived and gave birth. I took my family hunting during the critical time, and we drove to a different part of Italy so they wouldn't have to witness the tragedy. The thought to go against Caius' wishes never even entered my mind. Between the three of us in power, we tried to agree whenever possible. On something as important as siring a new vampire, I would never interfere.

But I didn't know how I would explain it to my son. I'd managed to keep he and his mother sequestered from most of the humans who worked among us, with only the chance glimpsing of the cleaning people as the exception. I didn't want either of them to know that these humans could become food at any time.

Rachele knew that I drank human blood, as she'd asked me about my eye color. Hers were slowly turning from red to amber with her diet. Angelo of course had vivid blue eyes. I'd explained to her that human blood turned my eyes red, and she didn't question me further. I don't know if she realized that the humans I fed from always died. I don't think she wanted to know, and her only comment was that she was glad she drank animal blood instead.

In the days we were away, Yanna gave birth and died. Her daughter was named after her, and quickly became well known around the complex as our first hybrid. There were a handful who knew different, but they were willing to keep the secret. When we returned, I expected Angelo would question me about the baby and her absent mother.

When he didn't, I was forced to ask him. It unnerved me to ask him questions, as he was almost as closed to me as his mother had been. The only thoughts I could pull from his head were those which were loud and close to the surface. I would find out later that our children are sometimes immune to our ability.

Our conversation was heartbreaking. He knew what I was, and he knew that the lovely blond woman had died. He wanted to know if he would become a monster when he grew up. He didn't add _like you_, but I felt it hanging there unsaid. The boy I loved so dearly believed we were monsters.

I tried to change. Caius went off in search of Joham and there was no one to sneer at my choices. I hunted with my son and his mother, and fed from animals for the first time in decades. It was abhorrent, but for my precious angel I had to try. The diet was not the only change I made. I cut my hair. It takes so long for it to grow back that I had not cut it for almost a hundred years. It is also quite difficult to cut, but again it was for my son. My short hair curled as it had when I was a boy, and my son looked more like me.

I made an attempt to dress more within the age, though admittedly only when I spent time with my boy. There is a certain amount of my identity attached to my attire, plus I found the denim breeches to be quite uncomfortable.

I needn't have bothered with the clothes, as Angelo neither noticed nor cared. He did enjoy hunting with both of his parents, and I believe he liked that he resembled me.

The diet proved beyond difficult for me. I could feed from animals easily enough, but I felt somehow diminished by it. Perhaps it was only my imagination, but I felt weaker for the effort. After a month of only consuming animal blood, I found myself all but starved for the human nourishment. It became all I could think about. I craved it, and even when I was functioning normally, I thirsted like a newborn.

One afternoon I was in Rachele's room, playing a game with my son. He came to me as he often did, flinging himself into my arms so I could tickle him or toss him into the air. I tickled him and he laughed, then he threw his arms around my neck to hug me. His own precious neck was right there, mere inches from my mouth. I felt his heartbeat, and heard the blood rushing through his warm body, and I had my lips on his throat before I even thought. Rachele's scream stopped me, and I fled.

The maid vacuuming the second floor hallway barely screamed when I took her. I fed like an addict must feel when getting a much needed fix. When I finished with her, she looked as if an animal had savaged her throat.

I carried her body into a room to prevent her discovery, and wished I could weep over her. While I'd fed, I was reminded that there was another reason I preyed on humans. It was their memories – I craved them almost as much as their blood. The very curse that kept me from taking a lover whose mind I could read, also made taking their lives so fulfilling. It was as if I drowned in my victims. I was infused with the sweetness of their blood, as their memories washed over me – _through_ me. It totally captivated my senses in the way feeding from a boar could never do.

I don't know when I'd passed the point of no return, but I couldn't stop feeding on humans. Maybe if I was willing to go back to my newborn thirsts, and learn all over again – but that was impossible. I couldn't take the chance that I would attack Angelo. Not to mention the ever present Dora as well as Marcus' daughter Marietta. I continued to hunt with Angelo and his mother, as it did afford me more time between my chosen victims. But my eyes proved I was not converted.

In the time it took Caius to find Joham and ally with him, the hybrids grew stronger. Dora knew all about our secret creations, but she seemed to know instinctively to keep the secrets. I delighted in reading her, as the tiny girl had a way of seeking out and absorbing secrets. She was like the fly on the wall as observers went, and she had the run of Volterra, while the others were sequestered away.

She became almost like a little sister to Angelo, and she would rather spend time with him than Marietta. I read it from her mind that she just didn't like Marietta's ability. Dora had a powerful talent. She could take control of people and make them like puppets. Early on it was just little things she could do, like raising a hand when you didn't want to. But Marietta had a dimming effect on her talent.

I'd asked Marcus what her talent was, and he said she was like a peaceful dream I didn't think I could classify her as a shield, because our abilities still worked. I just noticed when I was near her, I wasn't really interested in reading minds – even though it still worked. She gave me the feeling of listening to relaxing music, or taking a nap; even though I hadn't napped for centuries.

Angelo was learning new things about his own ability almost daily. Marcus joked that he had "Jedi" mind powers. Of course I had to look it up to find out what he meant. It was quite appropriate, as he just misdirected thoughts. His mother could hide in plain sight, and Angelo could make you forget he was even there.

Life would have been good at Volterra for quite some time if not for one little occurrence. Caius returned with Joham.

**A/N: Happy Valentines Day!**


	4. Part IV

Part IV

Caius returned with the vampire Joham, and dozens of hybrids. I was astonished there were so many of them in such a short time, but Joham had started breeding an army after he learned that his son Nahuel had told his secret. I was struck by one detail I had missed. Joham was fair skinned and had reddish blond hair. His hybrid children were all various shades of brown, as most had been born of mothers from either South America, or Africa.

I was surprised Cauis had not told him about our own hybrid children, but somehow in all the excitement, it had never come up. I had to beg him to keep them secret. He agreed, but only if he were not asked directly. "I won't lie to my friend," he'd declared. I realized then that I was no longer his friend, which was fine by me as he'd fallen from my good graces with his treatment of his own daughter's mother.

Volterra had her secrets, as our kind are not known for sharing. Knowledge was power in Volterra. Knowledge was one measure of age, maturity, and respect, and it wasn't something we easily gave up. We're not gossips, which was a good thing where Joham was concerned. Marcus and I kept our secrets squirreled away on the top floor, while Joham went about making "friends" with everyone.

' It wasn't even a month before he began asking to have young women brought to him for breeding. It wasn't just for himself, but for those of the Guard who had been with Caius on the trip, and who were more fully under Joham's control. Caius showed him where he'd first kept Yanna, and Joham went about setting up that whole section under Volterra as the maternity ward from Hell.

It was appalling the way he treated the first Italian woman to conceive his child. He was so beguiling and she was in love with him, even though he treated her as a prisoner. By the end of his first month, there were four women locked up – three who were being raped daily, and one going through the painfully short gestation – alone.

Marcus and I were in agreement; our families needed to be moved. We moved them to a small bungalow outside the walls, and away from prying eyes. The four of them would take care of one another when we couldn't be there with them. We both felt horrible taking these steps. We were already falling under Joham's spell, and it felt as if we were betraying him. But we were both in love with our children, and Marcus was in love with Tamara.

The secret held.

My time with Angelo and Rachele was the only pleasant thing I had to look forward to in a Volterra increasingly run by Joham. Rachele was finally beginning to show some maturity, and she was pleasant to be around. Tamara and Marcus were companionable. They may not have been romantic, but they were at least friends. I knew from his thoughts how he felt about her, though she blamed him for tearing her former life from her. Her memory of her human captivity was fading, and I hoped eventually she would forgive him and they would become a couple.

They both adored their daughter, and the girl just had a way of smoothing over the rough edges . She was like Didi in a way. She didn't make people happy, but she lessened their worries. Angelo took to calling her Hakuna Matata from the Lion King movie. No Worries.

Her nickname for him was Jedi, and they both called Dora the Puppetmaster. It was Rachele who really had the most stunning ability. I suggested that she practice, to see if she could hide others. I imagined a shield like Isabella Cullen if she could grow her talent.

But it was Joham whose talent grew. The cellar beneath Volterra filled up with captives, both pregnant, and those who were raped daily in hopes of them becoming with child. His power took hold of me, and I began to love him. When Heidi threw her fit about all the extra hunting, I could only see his side. I didn't like the woman, and I was irritated with her for giving him a clue to my secret. When he killed her and had her pieces burned, I wasn't horrified as I should have been. I helped him.

It meant we would have to hunt on our own. I still hunted with Angelo and Rachele, so the animal blood sustained me and I didn't need to drink human as often. But the area around Volterra was in the news for the first time in decades. People disappeared, remains were discovered, and it was feared there was a sophisticated serial killer loose in Tuscany. There were several actually, and I urged my brothers to set stricter guidelines before something serious happened.

It was then Caius got wind of Garrett's open criticism of us. Fortunately the four of us each had different agenda's. Marcus wanted nothing more than to coax Tamara to fall in love with him. I wanted to protect Volterra from all the negative influences that came with Joham. Caius wanted to gear up for a war with the Americans – again. And Joham wanted to impregnate every young woman in Italy it seemed. Because he was the one mostly in control, we did more of what Joham wanted. We bought a piece of property which was once a mental hospital, and we turned it into a training facility for his hybrids. From those he brought with him, and the many who were born in Volterra, their numbers grew.

These children were frightening. They often fed on their mothers, and they were not offered any love or comfort. Occasionally the mates of their fathers would claim them and nurture them as Athenodora had done, but they were most often taken care of in another part of the underground network. I went there once after reading Dora's mind about what she'd seen there. It was like a macabre daycare.

The children were being instructed by Joham's older daughters. They taught them the rudiments of reading and writing, before teaching them about self-sufficiency. They saw to it the younglings were fed and clothed, but they themselves didn't know love or comfort, so they didn't have it to give. They stayed underground for the first part of their lives, then they were moved to the school, to further sequester them and train them.

I knew in a small part of my mind that this was wrong. But I couldn't figure out what to do about it, as there were new hybrids being born daily. One of them was my own.

I had no idea I could be so thoroughly controlled. I only dimly remember coupling with Valentina. She was young and pretty, but other than that, I don't recall much about her at all. I can't remember if she was a prostitute, a runaway, or some other unfortunate young woman to cross Joham's path. All I know for sure is she conceived my child.

She died giving birth.

Aurora I remembered. I rescued her before she was forced to feed from her dead mother. Joham didn't care about newborn infants, and he only grew interested if they were shown to have a power. Most of those in the Guard had sired children. But unlike me, most weren't given the opportunity to interact with them. A few were more insistent, and Joham's daughter's relented and allowed them to take their children to raise. It lightened their burden.

I was stunned when I discovered Aurora's immense power. Hers was so much greater than mine, as she could both send and receive thoughts without even touching. I also learned there was a cumulative affect, and it became stronger the longer she was around me. Instinctively I kept this a secret, and kept her away from as many people as possible.

I took her with me when I visited Rachele and Angelo. Rachele couldn't believe that I didn't save her mother. She seemed sympathetic when I told her I feared I'd been controlled. It was strange, for even though we knew we were being controlled, unless he forbade us to speak of it, we could acknowledge it. We knew, and we were helpless to disobey his commands. Even as we loved him, we knew we were being forced to feel that way. And in this knowing, we also hated him.

I couldn't hide Aurora away, as much as I wished it. I was worried for her safety if her ability became known. But I was also worried about what Joham would do with such power in his control. He already had me, but I knew he couldn't use my power if he were controlling me. Aurora would be so much easier to control and use.

I decided to teach her to be feeble minded. I coached her on how to respond to people, as if we were playing a game. I taught her how to look vacantly through them when they asked her questions, and I told her she needed to keep her ability secret. With her power she could read their thoughts, and behave accordingly. I was worried for her, especially when I saw how Joham wanted to build an army of hybrids.

Aurora was a good little actress, and she played her part well. I kept her with me as much as possible, on the pretext of protecting her from the teasing of the other children. No one seemed to question that she should have been physically perfect as a hybrid. Even though I'd apparently failed, I was given another chance to father a child. It wasn't a chance I wanted, but I was presented with the girl, along with Joham's insistence that I breed her. I didn't know her name, only that she called herself Belle. The irony does not escape me.

Belle was a drug addicted prostitute, and she went through serious withdrawal while she was our captive. She didn't mind our couplings, though she begged for the drugs her body craved. I had some sympathy for her, though her piteous begging began to wear on me. In the two months it took her to conceive, the drugs left her system. It often took the girls longer to conceive, as many of them were on birth control, which had to run its course.

Belle clean and sober did indeed show signs of beauty. But more than that, she was intuitive, and she came to me as a willing woman. I knew she was using her feminine charms to get what she wanted, but what she wanted was so minor I was happy to give it. She wanted a small measure of comfort and freedom. I took her from the cell and kept her in my room. The precious weeks between her addiction, and the conception of our child were an unexpected joy.

She loved me.

I'm sure it was the charm of our kind; my scent, my perfection, my appearance. But she came to me eagerly, and we made love – often. I had acquired the gentleness to please her, and her warmth and softness beguiled me. I imagined turning her – in fact in my mind there was no other choice. I explained what would happen, and she promised she would stay with me afterward. It would mean setting Sulpicia aside, but I knew my wife had taken a lover, even though I didn't know who she bedded down with each night.

Belle did not make it.

I can't even blame Joham for her death; though I wish I could. Her body had been ravaged by years of drugs and mistreatment, and the pregnancy was too much for her. She was paralyzed in the third week, and I watched her fade day by day. I kept assuring her that the change would heal her. I begged her to hold on. But when my second son came into the world, her heart stopped beating even before he was free of her body.

I tried to save her. I injected her with my venom, and even bit her in my desperation. I failed.

Our son needed me. I gave him my name, and I tried to love him as I had Angelo and Aurora, but in a way I blamed him for his mother's death. I'd felt that I could love Belle, and he'd taken her from me. He was also different from my other children. He didn't bond with me, and he always seemed dissatisfied when I held him.

I found out later that part of his behavior was the lingering effects of the drugs built up in his mother's system. I also found out he had a mind reading gift right from the beginning. Exactly like the young Edward Cullen; he could read surface thoughts from anyone nearby. He'd read my own mind, and knew I blamed him for his mother's death – even though I did love him. My love for him ran deep, but what he read was the worry, the blame, and the loss I felt over Belle.

I tried to convince him to play dumb like Aurora, but he defied me. He was happy to be apart from me, and when they moved him to the school, he asked that I not visit him. He didn't want a thing to do with me. I lost my son and his mother both.

Joham didn't allow me to mourn long. He saw Armando's power, and he wanted more. The only blessing is that my son's defiant nature worked against Joham as well. He didn't show him how powerful his gift really was. Still it was enough that I was once again lead to the cellar's and expected to perform. Even Joham commented on the beauty of Marianna, and he joked that if I didn't mate with her; he would.

I should have allowed him to have her. After Belle, I imagined maybe Marianna would fall in love with me. But then I discovered why Joham didn't take her as his own. As lovely as she was, she was absolutely terrified of us. She was no prostitute or drug addict; she was Volterrani, and she knew exactly what we were. Not only that, but she'd been kidnapped from her own home.

As soon as I found this out, I refused to touch her. To be with her would break Volterra law as well as go against my own sense of right and wrong. It was in this matter Joham demonstrated to me exactly what his power could do to me.

Not unlike my own wife so long ago, I raped her. I have only the smallest conscious knowledge of this, as Joham was so fully in control of me I only remember her screams when I took her virginity, and broke her tender body. I know I visited her often – all at his urging. I recall how he buried my memories.

"You don't want to remember this, my friend. Just forget all about the girl, and it will be over soon." It was hypnotic, and I did indeed forget about Marianna for years. Almost inexplicably I had a new daughter. I didn't know why I chose her name, until the memories came back to me. Those are memories I wished I could keep buried forever. When they came back, I felt all the horror of what I'd done.

I come from a time when a woman's value was only what a man chose to grant her. Women were property; little more than bargaining chips used to seal a deal, make an alliance, or continue a line of succession. They had little or no rights over their bodies, unless it was granted by a man.

Still, even at that time what I did to Marianna would have been considered a sin if not a crime. Joham didn't care if I was gentle. He didn't care if I hurt her. He didn't care that she screamed each and every time I was near her. He only cared that I used her. He forbade me to act on the blood lust when her tender body tore. He took a perverse sense of delight in her struggles. I learned later that she had rejected him when he wanted to be her lover.

He allowed me to remember what she looked like the day she gave birth. I could hate him the rest of my existence for that alone. Yanna in the hands of Caius fared much better than Marianna. She had come to us a true human beauty, and we'd destroyed her. Broken bones, bruises, and festering wounds, tormented a body covered in filth. Once she conceived, she wasn't even offered a chance to clean herself, and her broken bones meant she could only lie in her own waste.

I wanted to flee from the sight of her and what I'd clearly done to the girl. Joham wouldn't permit me to leave, and he wouldn't let me help her either. I watched in horror as the child struggled within her. It fought, and the girl screamed herself voiceless in pain and terror. I knew I could cut the child free and save them both, but instead I was forced to watch it tear her apart to be born.

My daughter came into the world to the sounds of breaking bones, tearing flesh, exhausted cries, and gushing blood. When I was finally permitted to pick her up, her mother was dead.

In a very short time, she grew to be a living embodiment of her mother. Arianna was supernaturally beautiful, and I loved her dearly. Joham wasn't impressed with her, as she was venomous and had no talent. I wanted to protect her and raise her myself, but Joham wouldn't hear of it. Her lack of talent made her a throw away child in his mind. He wanted her trained for his army, which he saw as the only redemption for being talentless.

Of course the military training and supernatural talents were not the only uses for female hybrids. Joham made clear his plan to use these girls as breeding stock. Humans were just too weak, and hybrids could carry vampire babies, give birth with little risk, and be ready to breed again in just a month. He told me in seven years Arianna would be old enough to breed. He told me fathers could even mate with their hybrid daughters with no ill effects. He sickened me.

I tried to protect my daughter, but Joham was sleeping with my wife, and he wanted to make my life miserable as a result. I doubt he had feelings for Sulpicia; he likely believed that if she divorced me he could marry her and Volterra would be his. I knew better. The old laws didn't give the usurper any rights. Maybe he believed we were bonded to one another, as typically happens to those of our kind. Whether he was jealous or grasping for more of what was mine, I am not sure. But he delighted in keeping Arianna from me.

I was able to protect Aurora and keep her with me, but Armando and Arianna were at the mercies of Joham's loyal minions.

I tried to fight the influence Joham had on me. I knew it was a compulsion, but I was helpless to do anything about it. All he had to do was ask for something, and I'd feel a warm wave of love for him and gladly hand it over. I handed over my wife and my daughter, and my son left of his own accord.

For years he held us all in his thrall. _ Years. _ For those of us who measure our existence in decades and even centuries, it wasn't much more than a blink But the impact it had on all of us was like the passing of millennia. The only thing that kept me from losing my mind was my memories.

I don't have normal memories. I have vast stores of the memories of the thousands of people I've touched in my life. Perhaps even millions of people have given me their memories. In this age, there is a comparison, and it's the enormous amount of knowledge stored within the internet. Decades ago, I used to liken my mind to a library, and each touch had yielded a book of one person's life. But whether I am like a library, or a computer, I had access to a lot of information. What keeps me from going mad, is that I don't have it all loose in my head at once.

I spent hours on end, "reading" the books of my mental library. There were memories that could make me weep at the notions of love, joy, hope, passion, courage, friendship, and faith. To know most of those whose memories I carried were long dead could break my heart. But they were still easier to face than what Joham was doing to my Volterra and my life.

I dwelt long on the memories of my sweet Alice. The tiny glimpses of the future I'd uncovered in her mind were a puzzle, and sometimes a joy to me. I knew she'd seen us as lovers. Over and over again, I sifted through those predictions, longing for the woman like none other. I puzzled over another possible future buried in her memory, where we were not just lovers, but so much more.

In this tiny glimpse of what might be, we were not just lovers, but _mates, _in every sense of the word. To look into eyes that truly loved me, and make love to a woman I adored was more than a fairy tale – it was an obsession. Again and again I opened this cryptic book and fought to read more of the story. How did it happen? Where was her husband and family? When could I hope to see it unfold for real?

Perhaps I should have paid more attention to her other predictions. Her mind grappled with the idea of a war with the Volturi, but in my own mind I believed she was merely seeing what almost happened when we'd discovered the Cullen's hybrid child. I saw the formations, and the fighting, but I just thought it was something that might have happened. The way her complicated mind worked, it was like wandering through a maze, and it was nearly impossible to tell when things occurred.

I was selfish. I thought only of my needs, and my desires. Locked within the memories of that tiny young woman, was information that might have saved us, if I had only looked.

The little cottage outside of the walls was the one thing aside from my memories, that made my life worth living. My memories kept me from going mad, but my Angelo and his mother were the bright points in my bleak days. Angelo loved me like neither of my youngest children, and Aurora had yet to learn what love really meant. His mother Rachele matured in her mind as she was in her body, and we got along well. I even imagined taking her as a lover, though she never looked at me in that way.

They were my family. I took Aurora to see them, and quite often I had to take Dora along too. Angelo was patient with Aurora, though she was younger than he was. Marietta got along well with everyone, and Dora never seemed more at home than she did in that little house. All three of our first children were showing remarkable talents. Rachele was learning to stretch her ability, and she could hide all the children if she concentrated.

Tamara had finally begun to accept Marcus' attention. I knew from his own thoughts, that he entertained the idea of having Chelsea help grow an attachment between them. He was in love with her. I knew enough about him to know it was the real thing, even if she didn't want to see it. I would have counseled him against the notion, but we'd fallen out of the habit of talking to each other. I could still read him, and we didn't care to speak to each other. Joham was the reason behind our deteriorating friendship.

Joham was every friend we ever wanted or needed. If we wanted to share a secret with someone, we automatically thought of our friend Joham. If we wanted to have a heart to heart discussion, then we wanted Joham as well. He was our friend, and everyone else was just a substitute. We knew it was the compulsion, so we learned to withdraw from our friends, and curb our needs. Volterra became a silent place for those of our kind. The hybrids multiplied, and spread throughout the facilities and the training school, and we did our best to fade into the background.

We celebrated the children's seventh birthday's. They were physically like fourteen year-old's, though the first three years worth of development flew by in the first weeks after their birth. It was only a few months later my world came crashing down on me.

I was summoned to the audience chamber, and watched my worst nightmare unfolding. Joham had them. The guards held Rachele, Tamara, Marietta, and Angelo. As soon as she saw me, Rachele tore free with a scream and threw herself into my arms, begging me to save them.

"Give her to me, Aro." Joham's command was irresistible, and I handed her over to him. What followed was a trial unlike any Volterra had ever seen. There were no witnesses but Marcus and me, and no accusers but Joham himself. We were all accused of keeping secrets and telling lies – none of which was an offense by our laws. Joham tried to say it was treason, and it tore at the very fabric of leadership and control.

We couldn't argue with him; in fact every time he asked a question or made a point, there was someone who was all too anxious to agree with him. When the vote was taken, we even voted with him! We had no will of our own. We unanimously voted that Marcus and I had committed treason in keeping our first born children and their mothers from him. It was a crime he deemed punishable by death.

I was resigned to die. The guard I'd assembled myself, stood poised to tear into me, and the fire was stoked in the execution chamber. In the moments when Tamara saw Marcus facing his death, she declared her love for him.

I know I can never forgive that man for the evil in his heart. Perhaps it was Tamara's declaration of love, or perhaps it was my own goodbye to my children, but Joham had a vendetta against love – I truly believe this now. Perhaps some day I will look through his book in my memory and discover the reason behind his poisonous hatred. But I know I will never forgive him for what he did.

He turned the tables on us, and instead of demanding the lives of Marcus and myself, he pronounced that our children and their mothers would die in our place. I was horrified as Marcus went crazy. In seconds three guard members were down, as he tried to reach Joham. I too fought and freed myself, and ran to my family. I held Angelo to me, and tried to run.

Joham's command stopped me. I could not move, and everything in me fought against him – and lost.

Marcus was immobilized as well, and with a casual flick of his wrist, Joham set the guard on Tamara. Her screams were horrible, but they were nothing compared to her daughter Marietta, as she witnessed her mother's death. They were even less consequential, as Marcus screamed as she was executed.

He was a broken man, and his insane shrieks blocked out enough of Joham's control, he took down several more of the guard as he fought to reach his beloved. Joham ordered me to stop him. I fought with Marcus, and I won.

Marietta knelt by her mother's remains, crying, as she tried to put her back together. Joham ordered me to bring her to him. I complied.

He sat there on his throne, and held the girl, like he actually cared about her. He brushed her hair from her face, and kissed her small cheek. Then he tore into her neck, as only a starving vampire would. He held her tight, as she screamed and struggled, and he drank her precious life's blood, as her father watched in horror. We all heard her heart stop beating, and he tossed her onto the heap of her mother's remains. Marcus collapsed in a heap himself.

The guard brought Rachele closer, so I could watch her execution. She knew better than to beg me, and her last words were of love for our son, and a final plea for me to protect him. Her eyes never left mine as they held her, and tore her apart. She didn't scream or cry, but the sounds of her limbs being torn from her was all the more horrifying in her silence.

My son; my love, light, joy, and salvation, went obediently to Joham. He held my Angelo as he had held Marietta. He ran his fingers through his curls, and when he kissed his cheek, he left a bloody smear from what he'd done to Marcus' daughter.

"Papa, please help me." He was trying to be brave, but I knew he was terrified, even though he didn't raise his voice.

"Yes Aro, I think you should help your son." I was about to tear him free of Joham- had even crossed the floor – when he clarified his wishes. "I think you should help him die. It's only right that _you_ feed on him, as you are the one who created him."

"You will burn in Hell for this – _friend."_ I hated him more than I'd ever hated anyone in my life. The love and adoration I was compelled to feel, mocked that hatred.

"Take your son, Aro, and drain him dry." I felt his full power come to bear on me. I took Angelo in my arms, and he met my eyes. He would soon be a man, and I felt as if I were looking into the eyes of everything good, and noble, and pure that had come from me.

"I love you, Papa, it's not your fault." If I could have wept tears...

"My son, I..."

"Do it!" The compulsion hit me, and I couldn't even finish telling him I loved him. I held him tight, and bit into the precious neck of my own son. I was lost. I felt his sweet blood quenching the eternal thirst, and his memories flooded through me. I loved him, and he loved me without reservation. I drank him in, body and mind. It was sweet, horrible, bliss. His memories of his short life, were filled with magic, love, and joy, and I drank them in with every swallow of his blood.

I felt his heart weaken, and I felt his fear. I would have faced the fires of Hell for all eternity, if I could have stopped and let him go.

"Don't stop. Finish him."

I stroked his curls as I took his life. I folded to the floor, unwilling to let go of him, even though he was dead. I held my son in my lap, and wept tears of blood.

"Leave here now – get out of my sight!" I felt the disgust from him at our display. Marcus was in the arms of madness, and I wept like a baby. I picked up my son, and prepared to leave.

"No. Leave him here; I'll burn the remains myself. Let this be a lesson on how I treat disobedience. Do not keep secrets from me. I will find out, and I will punish you." It took all I had not to tell him about Aurora. Angelo's body on the cold, hard, floor so distracted me, I was able to walk away with my final secret. It was all the defiance I could muster.

**A/N: I'm sorry this has taken so long, for those who were reading. I was afraid of dropping spoilers for Cold Fragile Hearts. And now I'm afraid Aro's (my) memory may have confused a few details. I'll just chalk this up to Aro's memories being scrambled and hidden by Angelo for so long. I've got at least one more part to this outtake/story before I can mark it complete. **


End file.
